An airborne sense-and-avoid (ABSAA) system enabling the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk to fly in civil airspace will transition to full-scale development at the end of September after completion of a final round of research test flights. Continue reading
Category Archives: Regulatory Matters
FAA Targets Arctic UAS Operations In International Airspace
The FAA is working to create two permanent areas of Arctic airspace for research and commercial flights by unmanned aircraft, as directed by Congress in February in the agency’s reauthorization bill. Continue reading
Insitu’s ScanEagle UAS Receives Limited Military Aircraft Type-Classification to Fly in Dutch Airspace
Insitu Inc. announced today that its Netherlands customer is now authorized to fly the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) under a limited military aircraft type-classification certificate from the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) of the Netherlands. Continue reading
FAA Urged to Keep Timetable for UAS Test Sites
Congress, concerned about a delay that has already occurred, is pressing the Federal Aviation Administration to stay on schedule for designating six test sites in December that will allow the operation of remotely piloted aircraft in airspace now used by manned planes, to determine how the flying can be safely integrated. Continue reading
Advanced Defense Technologies and AeroSpy Joint Venture on Sense-and-Avoid Technology
Advanced Defense Technologies, Inc. has announced that the Company has entered into a joint venture agreement with AeroSpy, an Austria-based leading technology supplier in the field of navigation, motion tracking, and mobile robotics, to develop and commercialize the first fully certified Sense & Avoid System that would allow the integration of mission-specific UAS into civilian airspace. Continue reading
US Telecoms Cos Oppose Federal Communications Commission Aerostat Emergency Link Plan
Some of the major wireless carriers and public safety organizations are shooting down an idea by the Federal Communications Commission that would allow the launch of communications-carrying UAS or other aircraft to act as temporary links when telecommunications go down in a disaster. Continue reading
Defense Research Associates Gets $5M US Air Force Sense-and-Avoid Contract
Defense Research Associates, Inc. (DRA), a small, veteran-owned company, has been awarded a $5 million small business contract for the U.S. Air Force as an ongoing effort to develop and demonstrate technology to prevent mid-air collisions between aircraft. Continue reading
ICAO/CERG Warsaw Air Law Conference
The ICAO/CERG Warsaw Air Law Conference will take place on 5-6 September 2012 at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland. This conference, which is organized by the Civil Aviation Office of the Republic of Poland, will focus on the current and future problems related to the international legal framework in the field of aviation safety, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and aviation security. Continue reading