Thales completes important work to enable BVLOS ops in North Dakota

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Thales has announced that it has successfully completed the preliminary design review for the key site implementation of Vantis, the statewide UAS network for BVLOS operations in western North Dakota.

As part of the BVLOS network, Thales will deploy surveillance and communications infrastructure in the greater McKenzie County area. The sensors and communications network will support mission and network operations. 

“North Dakota’s Statewide UAS Network, known as Vantis, is truly the first of its kind,” says Jean Ferré, Vice President of Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales.

“This robust network, that safely and securely integrates UAS into the national airspace, will serve as an enviable model and the catalyst for broader commercial UAS operations for years to come as it relies on a complete solution addressing the FAA’s safety risk management process.”

Thales says that it will integrate new and existing infrastructure into a cloud-based traffic management software as a service (SaaS) platform supporting users at the Vantis mission and network operations center located at the Grand Sky facility near Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The Thales TopSky UAS Traffic Management (UTM) platform is a first of its kind, cloud platform that blends field-proven air traffic control technologies with national, regional and local data to facilitate real-time situational awareness. Its robust capabilities also support proactive health and status monitoring to deliver the security, resilience, availability, affordability and flexibility required for tomorrow’s advanced aviation applications.

Thales says that this system will benefit users of both public and commercial use cases, with the latter representing those merchants who want drones to be able to conduct delivery, inspection, and other services. 
 

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