Thales and Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems are partnering with the Kansas Department of Agriculture to develop a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone network designed to expand the use of unmanned aircraft for agricultural operations.
The initiative will provide infrastructure enabling agricultural drones to operate beyond the direct visual range of their pilots. Potential applications include crop spraying, field monitoring, fertilisation and seeding, allowing farmers to use drones across larger areas and for longer-duration missions.
Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems received a $3 million contract from the Kansas Legislature in February 2026 to develop BVLOS capabilities for agricultural operations. The project is also intended to demonstrate how the technology and infrastructure could support other commercial drone applications across the US National Airspace System.
Thales will provide airspace management capabilities through its TopSky platform, which is used by air navigation service providers in more than 100 countries. The system will form part of the infrastructure required to coordinate BVLOS drone operations and integrate them safely into shared airspace.
The network will also incorporate detect-and-avoid technologies, helping drones identify and respond to potential conflicts with other aircraft and obstacles. Such capabilities are critical for agricultural BVLOS missions, where drones may operate over extensive areas without continuous visual observation by a remote pilot.
The Kansas programme builds on Thales’ experience supporting BVLOS operations through initiatives such as Vantis, North Dakota’s statewide UAS network. Vantis provides communications, surveillance and other infrastructure intended to enable routine BVLOS operations.
For agriculture, BVLOS capability could significantly increase the efficiency and coverage of drone-based services. Instead of restricting operations to areas within a pilot’s visual range, networked systems could enable drones to cover larger fields and support multiple missions from centralised operational locations.
The Kansas initiative could ultimately serve as a model for deploying dedicated BVLOS infrastructure in other agricultural regions and commercial sectors. By combining airspace management, detect-and-avoid technology and operational support, Thales and Kelly Hills aim to demonstrate a scalable approach to integrating drones into routine commercial airspace operations.
