Grab launches SG drone delivery pilot with ST Engineering

The drone delivery service will pause during wet weather and public holidays. / Photo credit: The Business Times

Grab has launched a three-month drone delivery pilot in Singapore, serving the Tanjong Rhu area together with ST Engineering’s Unmanned Air Systems business, said the super app in a blog post.

The drone delivery service, which is still in its beta phase, will run every Tuesday to Sunday between 10 AM and 6 PM with up to 28 deliveries a day.

The average flight time for a round trip is around eight minutes. The service will pause during wet weather and public holidays.

Drone deliveries can help reduce the effort needed to overcome geographical constraints. The Tanjong Rhu neighborhood is separated by the Kallang River from a cluster of eateries, adding minutes to each delivery.

Food delivery riders are still essential for the drone service, as riders will bring the order to a designated drone launchpad at Republic Avenue, as well as deliver the order after the drone lands at a designated site in Tanjong Rhu.

Over 20 riders have been trained on safe drone handoffs by ST Engineering.

The drones will not store any footage from navigation cameras and operate at noise levels comparable to a normal conversation, said Grab. This pilot is only for internal testing, Grab told The Business Times, and is not yet open for consumers to try.

This initiative follows a pilot study on drone delivery in the Philippines in June 2025. Grab tested a similar hybrid delivery model where food delivery riders handled the pickups and drop-offs between dedicated drone landing stations, while drones took care of the in-between journey

Grab has yet to do any drone delivery in the Philippines.

The Business Times has reached out to Grab and ST Engineering for comments.

See also: How China’s playbook could guide Grab’s drone gamble