Japanese delivery firm Yamato to develop ‘flying truck’ with U.S. helicopter firm

Yamato Holdings Co. has reached a basic agreement with a major U.S. helicopter manufacturer to develop an unmanned “flying truck” capable of transporting goods via air, Yamato announced Friday. It aims to start commercial use of the vehicles by the mid-2020s.

Yamato reached the agreement with U.s.-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. According to the two companies, the unmanned aircraft will fly at speeds of at least 160 kph (99 mph) and carry cargo of up to about 450 kilograms (990 pounds).

Bell will develop the aircraft itself, while Yamato will construct the cargo container. The companies will produce a prototype by August 2019 and conduct test flights.

The unmanned plane is faster than a truck, immune to traffic jams and not bound to road and railway routes, benefits that are expected to reduce costs.

Yamato hopes to use unmanned aircraft to solve the shortage of truck drivers and other workers that has plagued the transport industry. The company views such vehicles less as aircraft than as a means of transporting An artist’s rendering of a ‘flying truck’ to be developed by Yamato and U.S. firm Bell Helicopter Textron.

and distributing smaller cargo than conventional airborne cargo. It aims to eventually expand the system throughout Japan and

abroad.

For now, plans are to use the aircraft for intermediate-range transport rather than home delivery.

Israel’s High Court of Justice stopped Sunday’s scheduled deportation of former University of Florida student Lara Alqasem, according to reports from Israel.

The Jerusalem Post said Justice Uzi Vogelman told the Israeli government and Alqasem to file responses in writing within 24 hours of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on her appeal against her deportation. At that hearing, the court will determine whether it will hear Alqasem’s appeal.

Alqasem has been frozen at Ben Gurion Airport just outside Tel Aviv, refusing to return to the United States but not allowed into Israel to study in a Hebrew University masters program. She obtained a student visa before Israel learned that she was president of UF’S Students for Justice in Palestine. Israel considers that group part of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Movement, which calls for one or all of those measures against Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.

The Consul General of Israel in Miami, Lior Hiat said, “Once we realized that Ms. Alqasem is involved in anti-israel (and anti-semitic) activities through the BDS movement, she was denied entry.”

Alqasem has said she left the BDS Movement in 2017. The Jerusalem Post said lawyers for Israel argued in the Tel Aviv District Court that she made Facebook posts in 2018 stating she would attend BDS events, and then erased them. The Post said Alqasem’s attorney, Yotam Ben-hillel, argued that many people post things on Facebook, and then don’t follow through or erase them for reasons beyond concealment.

The Times of Israel said Alqasem had been scheduled to be deported at 5 p.m. Israel time (10 a.m. EST) after a Tel Aviv District Court Friday upheld the government’s refusal to allow Alqasem entry.