Västervik Drone Science Park

The foundation for Västervik Drone Science Park (VDSP) operations and established drone community is almost 10 years of being an UAS testbed, founder of conferences like UAS Forum Sweden, Sweden’s oldest and largest UAS event. In 2021 Västervik was designated National Drone Centre by the Swedish Transport Agency and has a unique UAS-zone (R) of 1 800 km². In 2024 the initial driving force, Drone Center Sweden AB (DCS) and its operations, was incorporated into VDSP. DCS was founded by former army/air force pilot Urban Wahlberg who continues as Senior Advisor and Technical Manager Aero/UAS. What we do: Connect – people, organizations, and unmanned technologies. Facilitate – R/D and collaborative innovation, drone tests and new businesses opportunities. Accelerate – the development within Aero, unmanned technologies within UXV. The VDSP model for accelerating the drone industry in air, land and sea (UXV). Is through collaborative innovation within a quadruple helix environment – academia, industry, government and civil society. The UAS-zone includes an airfield ESSW (1199 m air strip) with hangars and the UAS-zone offers uniquely varied test environments on land, forest, archipelago, open sea, lakes etc. As well as infrastructure like wind power, power lines, railways, roads, etc. That enables all different types of real-life unmanned technology testing, especially air, land and sea interaction tests, where the Västervik natural features is quite unique in Europe. Västervik has surrounding practical facilities in place being a famous holiday destination with more than 500 000 overnight stays a year. VDSP is own by the local foundation Västerviks Utvecklingscentrum, founded by Västervik municipality and local businesses. VDSP is business driven “non-profit”, possible income/surplus shall be used to further invest in developing the VDSP operations and the community. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.