Critical flight-safety feature up for grabs in planned Eurodrone

By: Sebastian Sprenger

COLOGNE, Germany — German radar specialist Hensoldt announced a successful test of the company's collision-warning radar for unmanned aircraft this week, joining an upcoming industry race to make subsystems for the Eurodrone.

Commissioned by the German Defence Ministry's acquisition arm, the test entailed strapping a preliminary version of Hensoldt's detect-and-avoid system to the nose of a manned Dornier Do 228 of the German Aerospace Center. The radar “reliably detected the test aircraft approaching at different altitudes and angles,” the company wrote in a statement.

Recreating a human pilot's ability to avert midair collisions remains a largely unsolved problem in unmanned aviation. Military drones flying at similar altitudes as commercial airliners therefore must remain in restricted areas until a suitable technology is found and certified as safe by regulators.

The planned European medium-altitude drone, however, is intended by lead nations France, Germany, Italy and Spain to be safe enough to fly in the same airspace as civilian air traffic. That requirement brings back unpleasant memories in Germany, where a previous attempt to field the similarly sized Euro Hawk surveillance drone came crashing down because the aircraft never gained the required certifications.

Airbus Defence and Space, Dassault Aviation, and Leonardo are the main contractors for the new drone program, officially dubbed European MALE RPAS and envisioned to be ready by the mid-2020s. The European multinational Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, or OCCAR, manages the effort.

Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/01/17/critical-flight-safety-feature-up-for-grabs-in-planned-eurodrone