Prime Air: Jeremy Clarkson Presents Amazon’s Drone Delivery Project

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has unveiled Amazon’s drone delivery project Prime Air.

In a video of the new prototype, the drone could fly for up to 15 miles and deliver a parcel within 30 minutes of the order being placed.

There was no indication of when it might be used by the retail giant.

Photo Amazon

Amazon was given permission to test delivery drones in the US earlier this year.

The company also has drone delivery development centers in the UK and Israel.

Prime Air will be part of a “family” of delivery aircraft, Jeremy Clarkson said in the clip, and is one of around a dozen devices Amazon is developing.

The drone is equipped with “sense and avoid technology” and can fly at a height of 400 feet.

Amazon said it would not launch the service until it was able to “demonstrate safe operations”.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has strict criteria for commercial drone use and some American politicians have called for the setting up of a drone register.

The FAA estimates that by 2020 there will be around 30,000 commercial drones and many more civilian devices in use in America.