Alphabet, the parent company of Internet search-engine giant Google, will start testing its Project Wing delivery drones in the USA, after being given permission by the White House on 3 August.

The drones will be tested in one of six designated Federal Aviation Authority areas as part of the government’s initiative to promote research into unmanned flight and safety legislation.

The announcement was made alongside a pledge from the US National Science Foundation to spend $35 million (£26 million) over the next five years on drone research.

A White House spokesman said: “Project Wing is planning for the testing to include operations with external cargo loads and to build towards beyond line-of-sight capabilities.

“The company will also begin to develop and deploy an open-interface airspace management solution for safe low-altitude small UAS operations using existing low-cost scalable communication and information technologies.

“Data gathered will be shared with government partners to help regulators answer critical safety and human-factor questions for UAV cargo delivery operations.”

Dave Vos, Alphabet’s head of Project Wing, said: “I don’t think about the problems. I think about the solutions that we can bring to bear.”