• The law partially amending the Civil Aeronautics Act came into effect on December 5, 2022, and the UAS type certification system for unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) started.
• ACSL developed a drone for Level 4 (BVLOS in a manned zone) and obtained Class1 UAS Type Certificate for the first time in Japan from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on March 13, 2023.
• Scheduled to conduct Level 4 flights until the end of March 2023.

ACSL Ltd. (Edogawa Ward, Tokyo; Satoshi Washiya, President, hereafter ACSL) received a Class1 UAS Type Certification^※1 for the first time in Japan today under the UAS type certification system in the law partially amending the Civil Aeronautics Act came into effect on December 5, 2022
ACSL will now proceed with the application for Class1 UAS Aircraft Certification^※2 for the ACSL-Type PF2-CAT3 (“PF2-CAT3”), which has acquired type certification to conduct Japan’s first Level 4 flight (BVLOS in a manned zone) until the end of March 2023.

Japan’s first drone PF2-CAT3 to receive Class1 UAS Type Certificatie

Testing for Class1 UAS Type Certification

■Representative Director, President Washiya comment

Today, for the first time in Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) issued us with a Class-1 UAS Type Certificate. This is the result of our employees’ concerted efforts to conduct inspections and tests to prove the safety and uniformity of Level 4-compliant UAS, with the support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and all related parties since the system was launched on December 5, 2022.

In Level 4 flights, it is necessary to develop drones that are designed to fly over people, and they must be safer than ever before. PF2-CAT3 has been tested in all kinds of environments and conditions and has been judged to comply with the safety and uniformity standards under the Civil Aeronautics Act.

ACSL believes that our mission is to create new markets and to lead the drone industry. Having obtained Japan’s first Class1 UAS Type Certification, we are going to promote the social implementation of drones to make them increasingly familiar to people in the future.

■About PF2-CAT3

・Model name：PF2-CAT3
・Size：1,174mm×1,068mm×601mm（Including propeller）
・Weight：Drone 5.5 kg
Battery 3.3kg
Maximum payload 1.0 kg
Maximum takeoff weight 9.8kg
・Maximum speed：Horizontal 10m/s (36km/h)
Ascending 3m/s
Descending 2m/s
・Maximum flight time：20 min (at minimum landing weight)
17.5 min (at maximum landing weight)
・Auxiliary safety devices：Equipped with a parachute manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.

PF2-CAT3

Parachute opening Courtesy of Nippon Kayaku

Please refer here for more details.