Scenario-based study of using Civilian Cargo eVTOL Aerial System for Counter Catastrophic-Disaster Mission

In recent years, the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in natural disaster situations such as earthquakes or heavy rain has attracted a great deal of attention. The flight and safety performance of UAVs continues to evolve over the years. Because UAVs are more maneuverable than helicopters and other manned aircraft, they are being used to quickly assess damage at the scene after an actual natural disaster has happened. UAVs are also expected to be used for transporting relief supplies in the event of a disaster. Therefore, test flights and demonstration tests are being conducted across Japan to transport relief supplies in the event of a disaster. However, there have not been many studies on UAV logistics during large-scale disasters. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of eVTOL aircraft that is expected to perform a role as a next generation parcel delivery service in normal operations for relief supplies transportation in a large-scale natural disaster, which is likely to occur within a few decades. Based on the results of the analysis, this paper proposes an operational model for eVTOL aircraft for logistics in large-scale natural disasters.