Madagascar-based drone logistics company – one of Africa’s leading lights in delivery drone logistics – has announced a strategic partnership with Shearwater Aerospace to significantly expand access to life-saving medicines in remote communities across the country.
Shearwater Aerospace is a Canadian company that develops state-of-the-art AI-powered software to enhance drone operations, enabling operators to fly farther, more often, and with full confidence.
Its flagship platform, Smart Flight, plans optimal beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights and provides dynamic risk mitigation by accounting for weather, terrain, flight restrictions, aircraft performance, and more. The system is trusted by leading partners including Lockheed Martin Canada.
The two companies say their collaboration will address critical challenges in BVLOS operations, where the energy required to fly a route can vary by up to 30 percent due to weather—making it difficult to ensure safe and consistent service.
“The integration of Shearwater’s technology directly addresses some of our most pressing operational challenges,” said Pierre-Loup Lesage, CEO of AerialMetric.
“Manual BVLOS planning is increasingly time-consuming and often leads to highly variable route performance—with flights that succeed one day but are grounded the next.
“By embedding real-time weather analysis and energy forecasting directly into our flight planning, Smart Flight™ allows us to deliver more consistently, scale with greater confidence, and strengthen regulatory trust as we expand our life-saving logistics network across Africa.”
AerialMetric has built one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most active medical drone delivery networks. Since 2020, the company has completed over 10,000 flights, delivering more than 10 tonnes of essential medical supplies to over 1,000 health facilities.
In 2024 alone, the company’s drones flew nearly 3,000 long-range missions, many exceeding 200 kilometres.
These operations took place in some of the world’s most demanding conditions, including wind speeds up to 13m/s, heavy rainfall, extreme heat, and mountainous terrain at altitudes reaching 1,700 meters.
Now with Shearewater, the drone company reckons its partner’s software will enable it to establish year-round, regulator-approved medical delivery corridors that avoid populated areas.
“Powered by Shearwater’s patented Smart Flight autonomy platform, these routes are optimized using comprehensive regional weather data and advanced safety protocols — providing aviation authorities with the robust evidence needed to confidently authorize BVLOS operations,” said AerialMetric in a statement.
It added that, with these corridors in place, Smart Flight will provide real-time flight risk mitigation for every medical mission.
“Before takeoff, it verifies that live weather and energy conditions are within aircraft performance and regulatory limits—giving operators a clear go/no-go decision.
“In flight, the system continuously monitors evolving weather and energy use, enabling crews to confidently continue, reroute, or return to base when conditions become too risky.
“This ensures every flight stays within approved corridors, avoids populated areas, and safely delivers critical medical supplies.”
The improved operational capabilities will have direct impact on medical supply delivery to remote communities across Madagascar.
“Reliable drone deliveries are critical for our ability to serve people in remote areas,” said Ny Manda Andrianjatovo, Operations Quality Lead at AerialMetric.
“When weather conditions affect delivery schedules, it can mean the difference between having essential medicines available or not.”
The collaboration also positions both companies to support AerialMetric’s planned expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo, where similarly challenging terrain and weather conditions demand advanced flight planning capabilities.
By establishing proven operational standards in Madagascar, the partnership creates a replicable model for scaling drone-enabled healthcare logistics — offering a roadmap for governments, NGOs, and partners across emerging markets.