Thu, Dec 17, 2009
Goal Is Safe UAS Integration Into NAS
As part of the UAS FAA & Industry Team (UFIT) Cooperative
Research and Development Agreement (CRDA), designed to demonstrate
an approach for the safe integration of UAS into the National
Airspace System (NAS) as the NextGen Air Traffic Control System
comes online, GE Aviation and AAI Corporation, in cooperation with
the FAA and U.S. Army, performed the first “proof of
concept” flight demonstrations of an Unmanned Aircraft System
(UAS) controlled with a GE Flight Management System (FMS) certified
for use in commercial manned aircraft. These flights used the AAI
Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System controlled by the GE
Aviation FMS.
“The Shadow and the U.S. Army will benefit by using a
derivative of this commercial-certified flight management system to
provide precise, time-based navigation capability,” said Dr.
Gerry Vossler, vice president of Strategic Initiatives for GE
Aviation Systems. “Continued development of this technology
approach offers a path to 4DT UAS operations in NextGen.”
The first flight took off at 1450 CST on Thursday, December
3rd at the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal Airfield This initial flight
lasted 45 minutes and demonstrated both lateral and vertical
control of the Shadow 200 UAS coupled with the GE FMS. On Friday,
December 4th, a 3 hour demonstration was conducted that allowed for
more rigorous testing of the FMS controlled Shadow 200. The results
provide a variety of operational and technical assessments to
demonstrate the ability to integrate a certified flight management
capability into existing U.S. military UAS to support operations in
national airspace.
This demonstration is in support of the UAS FAA & Industry
Team (UFIT) Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA)
between GE and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced
on August 10, 2009. The research agreement is complemented by an
agreement between AAI, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a
Textron Inc. company, and GE including the demonstration flights of
the AAI Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System. Simulation is
being conducted at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical
Center, which began this fall and will continue for two years.
Integration of the FMS with the One System Ground Control
Station (GCS) will enable the Army to fold this capability into all
UAS that incorporate the One System.
The FMS optimized descent has qualified as an ecomagination
product, having completed GE’s rigorous ecomagination Product
Review (EPR) process. The evaluation focused on the operating and
environmental benefits that the technology provides to customers,
including demonstrated emissions reductions, fuel and costs
savings.
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