Transport Ministry Oversees Emergency Drone Drill

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) conducted an emergency drill featuring drone delivery services. The drill was personally overseen by MLIT State Minister Takeyuki Watanabe.

MLIT was testing preparedness in the event of a major natural disaster or other crisis event.

The main task of the drones was to overcome a hypothetical scenario of delivering drinking water from an emergency site to Seishin Daiichi Junior High School in the Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, which is also the ward’s primary evacuation center.

The waterfront emergency landing site itself lay next to the Arakawa River, and it has been established to serve as a base for loading and unloading of materials, equipment, and relief supplies as necessary in event of a disaster.

The drills were conducted as part of MLIT’s effort to define and regulate the standard expected performance of drones for government administrative purposes.

During the drills, the drones proved capable of taking off with a storage container filled with twelve liters of drinking water, intended for disaster survivors.

Moreover, the drones were able to successfully navigate through the elevated Central Circular Route of the Metropolitan Expressway, and not be affected by power transmission lines, steel towers, and congested ground traffic.

Watanabe told the attending media of his intention to “create a system that can be properly established for private businesses,” ensuring that drone services can operate within a profitable environment.