French UAS Successfully Completes Airspace Integration Tests

Advertisement

The Patroller UAS has 20-hour endurance and a 20,000 foot flight ceiling. Photos courtesy Sagem/Safran/Peter Bastiaans.

France-based Sagem completed a series of about 20 test flights with its Patroller unmanned aircraft demonstrating the feasibility of integrating UAS into shared airspace in compliance with civil aviation regulations and air control procedures.



The one-ton aircraft demonstrated anti-collision functionality through a sense-and-avoid system that combines an infrared electro-optical sensor and other traffic detection sensors, automated risk collision estimation, and avoidance flightpath generation. The Patroller successfully operated in different conflict scenarios with a dummy aircraft provided by the national civil aviation school, ENAC.



The company also teamed up with the French air navigation and safety agency DSNA and Rockwell Collins France. The teams were able to demonstrate that the aircraft could effectively follow air traffic control procedures in airport approaches autonomously.



The tests showed that UAS can be integrated into civil airspace without affecting safety and the consortium partners will continue project growth in airspace integration through the Operational Demonstration of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in European Airspace (ODREA) program.

<< Back to the News