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UAVaid (London, U.K.) and drone logistics provider Swoop Aero (Melbourne, Australia) have entered into a strategic partnership for air logistics services in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Swoop Aero’s autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, KITE, will be integrated in UAVaid’s mixed-fleet drone offering in Sierra Leone and complement UAVaid’s long range fixed-wing Hansard drones. This agreement follows Swoop Aero’s partnership with Quickstep Holdings to upscale its manufacturing capabilities for 2022.

“As sustainable drone logistics continues to cement its place in LMIC [lower middle-income country] and high-resourced markets alike, combining complementary technology opens opportunities to deepen the role of air mobility in supply chains,” says Swoop Aero’s CEO and co-founder Eric Peck.“Integration is key to solving complex supply chain challenges. That’s why, in all our operations, we ensure our platform seamlessly integrates to generate real impact — be that with adjacent logistics solutions, existing supply chain systems, processes and technology or the local health system and communities. We are excited to have the agility of the Swoop Aero platform support UAVaid’s service offering in the Sierra Leone market, complimenting the capabilities of their long range fixed-wing Hansard drone.”

According to UAVAid co-founder James Ronen, the partnership also brings new capabilities to the London-based company’s service offering. “By broadening the range of use cases we can support in this market, we are able to provide solutions to an even wider range of needs experienced by the local population, particularly around medical logistics,” Ronen adds. “This may include medical sample collection for disease surveillance or improved diagnostic testing.”