Global Airspace Radar recently had the opportunity to speak with Jan Domaradzki, CEO/Co-founder, Dronecloud and Simon Bachelor, Head of Drones Programme, British Transport Police about the use of drones in public safety applications. I found it interesting to learn about the history of Dronecloud and how they found their way to public safety applications.
The company was initially founded in 2014, with an operational focus and created a global framework for drone operations via the use of digital twins. In 2020, they shifted their focus to that of a software platform providing UTM solutions. They recognised that the increasing number of pilots and drones was creating a traffic management problem. The use of drones in daily operations was appealing to organisations such as Network Rail, the British Transport Police and national highways, although they were lacking a management solution.
Growth through government innovation opportunities
Dronecloud has participated in a few of the key government initiatives in the UK to develop opportunities for the use of drones. Some key highlights are provided below:
Project RISE: The project was part of phase 2 of the Future Flight Challenge. Completed in November, 2021, Dronecloud led a consortium composed of key industry partners, including Sky-Drones, Cranfield University, Frequentis, and Skyports. The focus was on the approvals process and traffic management for flying within airspace controlled by an Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), integrating across a combined stack of independent software and hardware. In this project, Dronecloud provided UTM functionality and also acted as a drone operator.
Network Rail: In mid-2020 they launched a tender to find the best flight management system (FMS) on which to build their requirements. Network Rail have one of the largest drone teams in Europe and no software currently existed to meet their exact requirements. In 2021, they selected Dronecloud to work with them to build a solution based on their FMS.
“With the number of drone flights at the level it is and only going to climb higher in the future, we needed a flight management system to manage the load to ensure we are as efficient and safe as possible. It will show drone pilots if another drone is operating nearby, as well as alert the pilot to other potential ground or air hazards in the area of the flight,” Rikke Carmichael, Head of Air Operations.
Project SOCNI: Kicked off in September, 2025, the goal of the project is scaling BVLOS operations for critical national Infrastructure. This in an Innovate UK funded project with additional participants – Network Rail, British Transport Police, Transport for Wales, NATS and Railscape.
The project has a set of strategic and tactical goals. Strategic goals are: 1. Standardised airspace rules for ALL drone operations within AAE – horizontally and vertically separated airways tailored to use case and aircraft type, 2. Mandatory flight planning and submission to a UK-wide digital data infrastructure (NATS OpenAir), 3. Strategic Deconfliction (ASTM 3548-21), and 4. Prioritisation framework (fair and equitable – priority framework). The tactical goals are using UTM as a key component within SORA, keeping air traffic separated and assisting with containment through: 1. Real-time conformance monitoring of UAS within their Operational Volumes (ASTM 3548), and 2. Electronic Conspicuity & Traffic Information Service (ASTM CAA DAA policy).
British Transport Police perspective
The use of drones is already well-established in this organisation with a flight operations room in place to manage a fleet of DJI drones. Simon Bachelor stated, “the need for deconfliction with other drones, transportation infrastructure, National Police Air Service (NPAS) and Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a very relevant and important topic. But deconfliction is not the only topic, prioritisation also comes into play.”
If potentially all of these players need to operate in the same airspace, who has priority? UTM is needed to be able to accomplish this goal. Pilots in the flight operations room need to have a full air/ground situational awareness picture and linkage to air traffic control to prioritise BVLOS flight.
One topic that came up in our discussion was the funding of these UTM solutions that support critical infrastructure. Emergency services and police don’t pay for parking or tolls when using the physical infrastructure, should UTM infrastructure fall into the same category when it’s supporting public safety? I’ve had this same discussion with ANSPs regarding air traffic management software, so why not UTM software. It will be interesting to see how the industry evolves on this topic.
Recently launched British Transport Police Use Case
Improved access to airspace within a Temporary Danger Area (TDA) currently in use by the British Transport Police (BTP)
The BTP are conducting ‘Drone In a Box’ operations BVLOS at a number of locations, with a TDA established to support those operations. Rather than restricting the airspace at all times, this new process allows operators to access the area when it is safe to do so.
What’s changing?
Under certain limited circumstances, a drone flight plan may now require approval from the BTP. Reasons this could happen include that a planned operation:
· Intersects the TDA, and
· Is scheduled for a date and time when the TDA is active (visible in a NOTAM).
Dronecloud will automatically submit a drone operator’s flight plan to the BTP for review. The BTP will approve the plan when they are not conducting operations, and the airspace is available. If the BTP are flying at that time, they may reject the request for safety reasons. The drone operator will be notified of their decision by email and within the Dronecloud app via the operation status. No further action is needed unless the BTP provide additional instructions.
Why this matters
This change is designed to enable access to the airspace wherever possible, rather than applying blanket restrictions, while ensuring safe coordination with ongoing BVLOS trials.
Looking ahead
One next step would be the integration of sensors and MLAT to have better situational awareness. Dronecloud is already working with Plane Finder to integrate their ADS-B data. They are trialing the use of MLAT at the ground level and could see the opportunity to partner with BT to place sensors on their cell towers for additional tracking.
“Finally UTM is finding its place with a view to customer requirements,” shared Jan Domaradzki.
