ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter the “MOU”) with PASCO Corporation (headquartered in Meguro-ku, Tokyo; Norimitsu Takahashi, President & CEO; hereinafter “PASCO”) and YellowScan Japan Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Chofu-shi, Tokyo; Tristan Allouis, President; hereinafter “YellowScan Japan”) on the companies’ cooperation toward the practical use of fixed-wing drones in aerial surveying.

Surveying plays a vital role in all phases of disaster management, including disaster preparedness activities such as the creation of hazard maps and ground deformation monitoring, information gathering and damage assessment when a disaster occurs, and measuring terrain changes and recovery and reconstruction planning in the aftermath of a disaster. These activities contribute greatly to the mitigation of damage and ensure that recovery is rapid.

Approximately 70% of Japan’s land is mountains or hills—areas with steep terrain and short, fast-flowing rivers. As a result, many locations have traditionally been difficult to survey by humans or conventional aircraft. Advancements in drone-based surveying technology now make it possible to safely conduct surveys even in hazardous or inaccessible areas.

Conventional multi-copter^*1 drones have primarily been used to date, but these drones have limitations in terms of their effective range and coverage.

The Wingcopter 198 (hereinafter the “W198”) is a fixed-wing eVTOL^*2 drone made by Wingcopter GmbH (Germany), with which ITOCHU has a capital and business alliance. It is capable of autonomous vertical take-off, landing, and hovering like a multi-copter. It is able to fly longer distances and cover wider areas than multi-copters, and is currently being considered for the transportation of blood products and medical equipment.

This MOU facilitates the installation of the world-class Voyager UAV^*3 laser scanner (manufactured and sold by YellowScan Japan) on the W198, Combined with PASCO’s extensive expertise in safe and high-quality surveying operations as a leading aerial surveying company in Japan, this MOU will make it possible to conduct long-range and wide-area surveys that were previously achievable only by using helicopters or other crewed aircraft. It will also make it possible to automate surveying operations and reduce the labor they require, which will contribute not only to the sustainable growth of the surveying industry, but also to the minimization of disaster risks.

Under its management policy, “The Brand-New Deal: Profit opportunities are shifting downstream,” ITOCHU aims to further expand its business domains by accurately identifying the diverse needs of society and business partners and creating and developing new downstream businesses.