Aviation innovations gain £4.4m funding boost

Image courtesy Innovate UK

The programme encourages the innovative use of aviation technologies to support a variety of challenges in the UK, including medical supply chains, protecting national infrastructure, and agricultural restoration.

Eight of the projects are for strategic growth, to demonstrate progress towards commercialisation, focusing on real-world operations proving use cases in a variety of sectors, from agriculture to medicine.

Six of the projects are regional demonstrators, which been funded to enable local areas across the UK to plan for the adoption and integration of drones, as well as passenger carrying eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) and zero emission conventional aircraft.

The funded projects include: 

• London Health Bridge Growth – building on an existing medical drone delivery service trial, this project will scale operations from 1,000 medical samples to 50,000 samples per month. It will also add new hospital sites to the network, connecting Guy’s Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, Synlab’s Blackfriars hub, and King’s College Hospital. It will provide a faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional road transport, responding to urgent clinical needs in real time. 

• Drone as a First Responder – this project is developing and demonstrating a modular, flexible drone platform that will make it safer, faster, and easier for emergency services and infrastructure operators to use drones as part of their everyday operations. 
   
• Beyond Restoration – designed to support the UK’s urgent need to restore peatlands and woodlands across the UK, this project deploys drones to apply materials such as lime, native seed mixes, fertiliser and tree seeds across ecologically significant sites in England, Wales and Scotland. It offers a significant environmental advantage by avoiding the damage that heavy equipment or human footfall can cause in fragile environments 

Future Flight Deputy Director, Simon Masters said: “Innovate UK is proud to continue supporting the UK’s future flight ecosystem, accelerating the route to commercial operations and delivering real-world impact.

These ambitious new projects highlight the strength of the sector and its diverse applications, from reducing emissions, advancing healthcare delivery and protecting our environment.

“By focusing on regional adoption, we aim to drive faster, more impactful growth and societal benefits for communities across the UK.”

Aviation Minister Keir Mather said: "We’re backing the next generation of British aviation businesses whose transformative technologies will reshape how we live and work in the years to come.

"Investing in emerging technologies like drones and unmanned aircraft is key to build a greener and more efficient transport system. But this isn’t just good news for the environment – this tech will also save our public sector and businesses valuable time and cash whilst helping boost skills and support high quality jobs across the country.”

For more information about the Future Flight Programme, visit the UKRI website.

Full list of funded projects

Strategic Growth projects: 

Advanced Logistics BVLOS UAV Mission (ALBUM) 
Partners: ARC Aerosystems, Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, Acroflight, Scubatx 
This project will test a large, uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) in Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, making a key step towards commercialisation of ARC’s heavy cargo for mid-mile logistics with up to 100 kg payload and flying long distances, up to 400 km. It aims to revolutionise logistics and medical transport in remote areas, such as the Scottish Highlands and Islands. 

ALIAS II: Regulatory Policy Concepts Enabling ITM (Integrated Traffic Management) 
Partners: Volant Autonomy, Snowdonia Aerospace Centre, Planefinder, Draken Europe, DroneCloud 
This project aims to demonstrate an ‘Integrated Traffic Management’ system that will allow drones, air taxis, and traditional crewed aircraft to safely operate together in the same airspace. It will use a combination of simulations and real-world flight trials of an advanced Detect and Avoid capability at the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre. 

Beyond Restoration 
Partners: Autospray Systems, National Trust, Woodland Trust, North Pennines National Landscape, Skypointe 
This project aims to deploy a fleet of drones to apply lime, native seed mixes, fertiliser, and tree seeds across ecologically significant sites in England, Wales and Scotland. It offers an innovative, scalable alternative to manual spreading, using heavy-lift drones operating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) to deliver restoration materials over remote and degraded land. 

Containment with Confidence 
Partners: Flare Bright, RPAS Heroes, National Gas Transmission, Satellite Applications Catapult 
This project aims to help National Gas improve how it monitors the safety of its pipelines by replacing periodic helicopter inspections with a more efficient and environmentally friendly drone-based system. By moving from helicopters to BVLOS drones, this project will enable National Gas to reduce its carbon emissions and demonstrate that drone-based systems can be harnessed to improve UK energy security and infrastructure monitoring. 

Dragon’s Heart: A Welsh Medical Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) 
Partners: Snowdonia Aerospace, Volant Autonomy, Skyports Deliveries, SLiNK-TECH 
This project is building a Welsh Medical Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) to increase NHS operational flexibility and improve connectivity for all health and social care providers across Wales. 

Drone as a First Responder 
Partners: Idroneinnovations, SLiNK-TECH, Leading Edge Power, Thames Valley Police, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary 
This project is developing advanced automated drone systems to improve the safety, speed and cost efficiency of infrastructure inspections, emergency response and public safety operations. Its modular, adaptable platform will help organisations such as emergency services and infrastructure operators integrate drones into routine workflows more easily. 

London Health Bridge Growth 
Partners: Apian, Matternet UK 
This project is an expansion of an existing medical drone delivery service trial, aiming to significantly increase the number of medical samples delivered by drone and create a multi-site logistics network for the NHS. 

Scaling BVLOS Operations for Critical National Infrastructure (Project SOCNI) 
Partners: DroneCloud, NATS, Network Rail, Transport for Wales, Railscape, British Transport Police 
This project will create a structured approach to designing, deploying and testing safety mitigations across national infrastructures, to improve incident management and asset inspection in a real-world rail environment. 

Regional Demonstrator projects: 

Future Air – Southwest 
Partners: Daedal Research, Somerset Council, Isles of Scilly Skybus 
This project aims to overcome the significant obstacles to using eVTOLs (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) and ZeCTOLs (Zero Emission Conventional Take-off and Landing) for commercial purposes. It will look at all the challenges at once – including those related to regulations, how the aircraft are operated, the money needed, and social acceptance. By simultaneously evaluating the full range of challenges, it will develop solutions that enable scalable BVLOS drone capabilities. 

OXCAM AAM Corridor 
Partners: Skyports Infrastructure, Bristow Helicopters, NATS, Vertical Aerospace Group, Oxfordshire County Council 
This project aims to demonstrate the commercial and operational viability of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), like passenger and cargo services using eVTOLs, between Oxford and Cambridge. This will test and identify real-world, commercially viable uses for this new technology, addressing the social and economic needs of the area. The project will culminate in live demo flights of Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 aircraft from Skyports’ Bicester Vertiport. 

Regional Offshore Cargo Drone Demonstrator 
Partners: Flowcopter, AYR Logistics, Angus Council 
This project aims to demonstrate how a new heavy-lift drone can be used for logistics and maintenance at offshore wind farms. The project tackles a major problem for the wind energy industry – the cost and difficulty of transporting equipment in bad weather. By using a heavy-lift drone, the project will provide a safer, faster, and cheaper alternative, which is crucial for the efficient operation and maintenance of the UK’s offshore wind farms. 

Project RESCUE 
Partners: Somerset Council, Limosaero, Land and Minerals Consulting 
This project is a collaboration between Somerset Council, emergency services, and specialised drone companies. Its main goal is to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a sustainable drone-based service. The project will focus on environmental monitoring to allow for rapid response to critical weather events. Testing in real-world scenarios, including monitoring floods and assisting with search and rescue operations. 

SATE: Highlands & Islands Regional Pathway to Sustainable Aviation
Partners: Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, University of the Highlands and Islands, Urban Foresight, European Marine Energy Centre, Windracers, Skyports Deliveries, Hybrid Air Vehicles, Streamline Shipping Agencies, Cormorant SEAplanes, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, Loganair, Regional & Business Airports Group and Shetland Islands Council
This project will develop a Regional Sustainable Aviation Strategy that outlines a clear roadmap for how new technologies can be put into service in the area. It will not just focus on the technology itself but will also calculate the financial and social benefits that better air connectivity will bring to the region. 

Project URBAN ASCENT 
Partners: Coventry City Council, Skyfarer, Coventry University, SLiNK-TECH, Manufacturing Technology Centre, Altitude Angel, Odys Aviation 
This project, based in Coventry and the West Midlands, aims to create a scalable plan for integrating drones and eVTOLs into UK cities. By addressing the challenges of integrating drones and air taxis into a complex urban environment, it will lay the foundation for new services that can provide significant economic and social benefits, such as faster and more efficient transport of goods and people within cities.