Optimus, a drone manufactured by Airobotics, the Israeli drone maker that says it has recently been granted the first certificate in the world to fly a fully automated drone, with no human operator, is seen during a demonstration for Reuters near their offices in Petah Tikva, Israel March 20, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias.

CTech – Swarms of Israeli-made drones will patrol the arctic skies of Norway to help the country’s rescue services in cases of emergencies in remote locations. After a year of trials, Israeli manufacturer Atlas Dynamics has signed a contract with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPAID), one of the world’s top arctic rescue units for its Atlas Pro drones, designed to operate in extreme cold conditions for hours at a time.

The drones are equipped with artificial intelligence and distributed communication systems that enable them to operate as a swarm and independently from their human operator and transmit the information in real-time to the rescue forces.

The MESH technology will allow rescue crews to quickly scan large territories to locate those in need of rescue, which in the case of the northern Norwegian terrain made up of rugged mountains, glaciers, and fjords, usually means adventurous hikers. The drones will replace manned helicopters currently used for such missions.

According to the company, Atlas Dynamics and the Norwegian rescue organization plan to develop more shared products later this year that will assist in rescue operations next winter.

Atlas Dynamics was founded in 2016 by Ivan Tolchinsky — who serves as CEO — Guy Cherni (CMO), and Omri Cherni (COO). The company has offices in Tel Aviv, the UK, the US, and Latvia. According to data on PitchBook, the company raised a total of $8 million in funding .