Airspace Monitoring for Drones: A Q&A With Hidden Level’s CEO

Airspace Monitoring for Drones: A Q&A With Hidden Level’s CEO

Jeff Cole, CEO of Hidden Level, recently shared his thoughts with Avionics International on Remote ID technology, the safe integration of drones into the airspace, and the advantages of the company’s Airspace Monitoring Service. (Photo: Hidden Level)

At the end of last year, the Federal Aviation Administration mandated that all uncrewed aircraft made or sold in the United States must transmit Remote Identification information. By Sept. 16, 2023, drone pilots will also be required to register and operate their vehicles in accordance with the final rule on Remote ID.

Drone sensing company Hidden Level has developed a technology called the Airspace Monitoring Service, or AMS, which can be used to track Remote ID. Hidden Level’s AMS solves two potential problems with the Remote ID system—drones that fail to broadcast information and those that broadcast false Remote ID information.

Last year, Hidden Level’s team deployed its AMS for evaluation by the FAA as both a standalone solution and a complementary technology for Saab’s SAFE Airport Event Management system. In an announcement this week, the company confirmed that it will continue to support the FAA’s Airport Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Detection and Mitigation Research Program.

Hidden Level collaborates with NASA’s Ames Research Center to evaluate the use of its Airspace Monitoring Service for drone traffic management. The company is also a partner of Joby Aviation, a developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. 

Hidden Level’s CEO Jeff Cole recently shared his thoughts with Avionics International on Remote ID technology, the safe integration of drones into the airspace, and the advantages of their AMS. Check out our question-and-answer session with Jeff Cole below.

Avionics: Can you share some background about the company?

Jeff Cole: The existing air traffic system and surveillance infrastructure that’s been in place for decades to monitor manned aircraft was never designed for this low-altitude mission over cities, where we’ll have to monitor potentially hundreds of drones and urban air mobility vehicles. 

Hidden Level was created about four and a half years ago. Our focus was bringing disruptive technology to the industry in a disruptive business model.

How do we bring some really cutting-edge technology to market and provide performance and access to it? That’s our airspace monitoring service, which is the cornerstone of our product offering. We’ve built this technology that we own and maintain, and we deploy it on existing infrastructure such as rooftops and cell towers. The focus is on blanketing low-altitude urban airspace to monitor manned aircraft and drone traffic to help scale and enable advanced air mobility initiatives—drone delivery, urban air mobility—while at the same time addressing security and safety concerns.

Hidden Level HL1000 sensor installation at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (Photo: Hidden Level)

Could you tell us more about how Hidden Level’s Airspace Monitoring Service technology works and how the AMS verifies Remote ID signals?

Cole: The technology is completely passive in its capability and is also privacy-compliant. A lot of passive technologies will demodulate or pull signal information and grab location from the signal. Our technology works very differently. It is able to hear a signal and then triangulate where it is. 

If you are in a room with 100 different people and they are all speaking different languages, rather than understanding French, and hearing the French person say, “I’m over in the left corner of the room,” we pick up and say, “That’s a French-speaking individual, I can tell by the phonetic characteristics. I can’t understand what they’re saying, but I can hear them, and they’re actually over in the left side of the room, or the right side of the room. That’s where it’s really synergistic to the Remote ID aspect.

Remote ID is meant to be like an identifiable license plate and a transmission of where you are. If I’m a drone flying around, I’m saying, this is my GPS location and here’s my license plate. We get that information and also detect where it is by hearing a signal in space and we verify and validate that the target is real, the position being reported is accurate, and it’s not spoofed. If you just relied on that signal telling you where it is, you don’t know if it’s actually there. We look at the phonetic characteristics of waveforms in space, we look at the GPS position being reported, and confirm that position is currently accurate and real. That is the Remote ID verification and validation part, which is very different than anything else out there.

There are a lot of different systems that can receive Remote ID. We are a broad frequency solution. We are really built for evolution. As we scale, the technology potentially moves into other frequency areas, we’re still able to detect, verify, and validate those positions.

Have there been any recent trends in what the company’s clients are concerned about or what problems they hope to solve?

Cole: On the security side of things, once you show them the amount of traffic out there, that triggers a lot of concern. How do I get the data in a privacy-compliant manner, and how is this technology scalable for the future as things start to move into 5G or different aspects of the spectrum based on what the SEC may allocate? They want to know that ultimately, this isn’t just a solution for today—they want to know how it is a solution for tomorrow.

When it comes to the advanced air mobility side, it’s being able to see where all of the different drones are and also seeing where manned aircraft are. That’s another aspect of our system; it has the ability to do passive detection of manned aircraft in a pretty unique way. That’s a really key aspect of enabling the future of drone delivery, urban air mobility: How do we scale technology that has the ability to see manned aircraft and drones in a cost-effective manner?

Our airspace monitoring service is a really disruptive offering. We make it accessible and affordable for people because we’re able to share that across a lot of different users and monetize across a lot of aspects of the business versus just selling a piece of hardware for that purpose.

Customers are asking how the data gets to the FAA or somewhere else. If I sold them a piece of hardware to do that, they’re now responsible for that data. The AMS can integrate into all of the different parties that need that information to work in harmony. When it comes to a security mission, for example, you might have a stadium, a first responder or officer, and potentially an agency that’s involved, depending on what’s happening or the severity of the event. Each user has different operations to work in. Our data can integrate into each one, and they can work in harmony quicker and reference the same information.

When it comes to advanced air mobility, our data can feed into different types of services that are doing detect and avoid, or providing that information to air traffic control, et cetera. We needed to make something that is scalable and accessible to everyone at the same time.

The post Airspace Monitoring for Drones: A Q&A With Hidden Level’s CEO appeared first on Avionics International.

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Defense Updates: Counter-UAS, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and the F-35 Program

This week, we are featuring updates from Defense Daily, including topics such as counter-UAS, the F-35 program, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The Border Patrol uses BlueHalo’s Titan counter-UAS, pictured above. (Photo: BlueHalo)

DHS Seeks Information On Counter-UAS In Various Operational Modes

The Department of Homeland Security this week released a Request for Information (RFI) for counter-drone systems for use in various configurations, from fixed-site to person-portable, to meet operational needs.

The Jan. 10 RFI was issued by the Secret Service to assess the availability of at least relatively mature technologies to detect, track, identify, classify and potentially defeat unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in a number of operational settings around-the-clock.

“DHS has an operational need for fixed site as well as rapidly deployable, mobile, and single person-portable employment modes to provide situational awareness and mitigation capabilities for personnel in the field,” the RFI says.

DHS is looking for capabilities that are at least at a Technology Readiness Level 6, which signifies a technology has completed the last development stage and has successfully been tested and evaluated in a simulated operational environment.

Drones of interest to be detected can be any size and weight, as well as fixed-wing, vertical-take-off-and-landing, or a hybrid, the RFI says.

After reviewing responses, DHS may host a product demonstration for some of the systems to learn more about the available capabilities in an operational setting.

Some DHS components, including Border Patrol, the Coast Guard and Secret Service, do conduct counter-UAS operations. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and the Transportation Security Administration are assessing these technologies in various operational settings, including airports. Responses are due by Feb. 7.

Avenger Drone Advances Collaborative Combat Aircraft Concept, General Atomics Says

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) said on Jan. 11 that a company-owned MQ-20 Avenger drone advanced the company’s internally funded work on Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) in three autonomous missions last month.

On Dec. 14, the Avenger, paired with “digital twin” planes, conducted simulated combat missions from GA-ASI’s Desert Horizons flight operations facility in El Mirage, Calif., and the company’s Reinforcement Learning (RL) architecture, developed using industry-standard tools, including Docker and Kubernetes, allowed the artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)-enabled Avenger  “to validate three deep learning RL algorithms in an operationally relevant environment,” GA-ASI said.

The company said that its CCA “ecosystem” will provide “a new and innovative tool for next-generation military platforms to make decisions under dynamic and uncertain real-world conditions.”

During the Dec. 14 Avenger missions, the “single agent RL model successfully navigated the live plane while dynamically avoiding threats to accomplish its mission,” GA-ASI said on Jan. 11. “Multi-agent RL models flew a live and virtual Avenger to collaboratively chase a target while avoiding threats. The hierarchical RL agent used sensor information to select courses of action based on its understanding of the world state…This live operational data describing AI pilot performance will be fed into GA-ASI’s rapid retaining process for analysis and used to refine future agent performance.”

The company said that the Dec. 14 tests used a government-furnished Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) autonomy engine, government-standard Open Mission System messaging for linking the RL agents, and a General Dynamics EMC2 open-architecture, multi-function, multi-level security processor—the so-called “Einstein box”—to speed testing for various missions.

F-35 Program Announces First Technology Refresh-3 Flight

An F-35A flies for the first time with the TR-3 configuration above the Mojave Desert in California on January 6. (Photo: F-35 Joint Program Office)

A developmental test team from the 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., flew the Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) configuration of the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter for the first time on Jan. 6, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said on Jan. 10.

The F-35 JPO said that U.S. Air Force Maj. Ryan “BOLO” Luersen piloted tail number AF-7, “a specially instrumented flight test aircraft and the first with TR-3 upgrades installed.”

“He executed a functional check flight (FCF) profile to verify aircraft airworthiness and system stability,” the F-35 program said. “The 50-minute flight, which took the jet to 35,000 feet at speeds just shy of the speed of sound above the Mojave Desert, marked the start of an extensive flight test campaign. Developmental and operational test flights will continue through 2023 to ensure safety and prove warfighting capabilities.”

Last week, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin said that it is uncertain when resumption of deliveries and flight acceptance testing of the F-35 will start, as the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) investigation of an F-35B mishap on Dec. 15 continues (Defense Daily, Jan. 3).

In the Dec. 15 incident, the pilot of a Lockheed Martin-owned F-35B ejected on the runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.

On Dec. 30, Lockheed Martin said in a statement that the F-35 JPO and the company had finalized a Lot 15-16 contract that may be worth $30 billion to build and deliver up to 398 F-35s domestically and internationally. Those lots are to include TR-3.

Powered by the L3Harris integrated core processor, TR-3 is the computer backbone for Block 4, which is to have 88 unique features and integrate 16 new weapons on the F-35.

“The TR-3 program has overcome technical complexity challenges with hardware and software, and is now on-track to deliver capability to the U.S. and its allies starting in 2023,” the F-35 program said on Jan. 10. “The government and industry team continue to find innovative ways to ensure delivery of critical capabilities to defeat future threats. Lessons learned in the execution of the TR-3 program will be applied across the entire Block 4 modernization program.”

Among the challenges that the F-35 program and industry have said that they are addressing is a parts shortage for the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which is to provide 360 degreee awareness for F-35 pilots from six infrared sensors that feed data to the pilot’s helmet (Defense Daily, Nov. 9, 2022).

Plans have called for the integration of the Raytheon Technologies’ Next-Generation electro-optical DAS (EO DAS) into all F-35s beginning this year with Lot 15 under TR-3.

These articles are abridged and edited from Avionics International‘s sister publication, Defense Daily. Check out the original articles at the links below:

DHS Seeks Information On Counter-UAS In Various Operational Modes

Avenger Drone Advances Collaborative Combat Aircraft Concept

Northrop Grumman Developing New AN/APG-85 Radar for F-35 Lot 17 and Beyond

F-35 Program Announces First Technology Refresh-3 Flight

The post Defense Updates: Counter-UAS, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and the F-35 Program appeared first on Avionics International.

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FAA Implements Internationally Recognized Program to Improve Aviation Safety

The FAA recently expanded internationally recognized aviation safety standards to all commercial aircraft operators and manufacturers. (Photo: Jessica Reed)

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration approved a new program to decrease aviation safety risks in a new ruling. Based on international safety standards and recommendations from independent review panels, this 2023 ruling applies to all aircraft manufacturers and operators of commercial, air tour, and charter flights. Early findings indicate that this ruling could reduce the number of aviation accidents and save lives.

This move expands upon the safety regulations established in the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act. This 2020 act was in response to two crashes of the popular 737 MAX aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia. It increased safety standards for aviation manufacturers but didn’t address aircraft operators.

When discussing the differences between these two, the FAA press release stated, “The proposed rule goes beyond the requirements of the Aircraft Certification, Safety and Accountability Act of 2020, which directed the FAA to mandate SMS only for aircraft manufacturers.”

While the 2020 act was responsive to these crashes, this new rule is a preventative measure based on international safety regulations. More specifically, it’s based on the Safety Management Systems (SMS), a standard set of safety measures recognized by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA).

SMS provides a structured list of decision-making protocols, risk control and safety assurance processes, and a framework which promotes a safety focused culture. All protocols and policies fall under four components: safety risk management, safety policy, safety promotion, and safety assurance.

Along with implementing the SMS standards, the new rule also considers recommendations from independent review panels and the National Transportation Safety Board. There is also a public comment period over the next 60 days, during which there could be adjustments to the new ruling.

All manufacturers and commuter, air tour, and charter aircraft operators must comply with the new ruling within one to two years. The exact time frame depends on each operator’s implementation capabilities. Some major aircraft carriers, such as Boeing, Bell, GE, P&W, and Sikorsky, have already implemented many measures in this new ruling with great success.

By applying internationally-recognized and proactive safety protocols to all members of the aviation industry, the FAA hopes to reduce the number of aviation accidents. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen explained, “Expanding Safety Management Systems to other players in the aviation industry will reduce accidents and incidents and save lives.”

The post FAA Implements Internationally Recognized Program to Improve Aviation Safety appeared first on Avionics International.

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NOTAM Outage Results in Nationwide Flight Disruptions

A photo taken at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Jan. 11 (Photo: Reuters/Alyssa Pointer)

After a turbulent holiday season, it seems that travel disruptions in the U.S. are continuing to emerge. However, most recently it was a Federal Aviation Administration system outage, not inclement weather or airline-caused delays, that sparked widespread disruptions across the nation. Though occurring briefly on Wednesday morning, the effects rippled across the airline industry in subsequent hours.

The issue was with the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, a computer network that notifies flight crew members of changes that can affect operations—most notably, factors like changes in weather, runway use, or restricted air space. This program is crucial for safe flight operations. Often, the information provided by the NOTAM system concerns smaller details. It can also provide critical information that a flight crew must know in order to fly and land safely. 

The NOTAM system went out around 8:28 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 10, causing the FAA to resort to using a telephone hotline to avoid a ground stop. However, by around 7:00 a.m. EST on Jan. 11, traffic volumes overwhelmed this approach, forcing the FAA to set in place a 90-minute ground stop. This halted all domestic departures across the country.

Many departures were able to take off by 8:50 a.m. EST, but the effects on airline schedules were significant. In total, over 10,000 flights were delayed and another 1,300 were canceled. The largest carriers in the U.S.—American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines—all reported that at least 40% of their Wednesday flights were delayed or canceled. Despite the disruptions, many officials remained confident that a return to mostly-normal operations could be reached by Thursday. Passengers were instructed to check with their airlines for updated flight information.

Since the incident, an investigation has been launched to find the cause of the problem. Currently, the FAA has found no evidence of a cyberattack, and instead believes that a damaged database file corrupted both the NOTAM and its backup system. This conclusion was drawn from a preliminary investigation, and a final cause has not yet been determined.

In a statement, the FAA explained that their team “is working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again.”

In a winter full of flight disruptions, the NOTAM system’s outage is the most recent cause of delays and cancellations. Many airlines were forced to cancel flights during the holiday rush as a result of inclement weather and staffing challenges, and these factors played a key role in Southwest Airlines’ operational meltdown that left thousands of passengers stranded across the country. More recently, an issue with the FAA’s En Route Automation Modernization system at its Miami Control Center led to significant disruptions across Florida. Now that demand for air travel is returning, it seems that the aviation industry’s technological infrastructure is yet another challenge the industry must address to preserve reliability and safety.

The post NOTAM Outage Results in Nationwide Flight Disruptions appeared first on Avionics International.

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Airbus and VDL Announce Partnership to Develop UltraAir

Airbus and VDL Group are partnering to develop and manufacture UltraAir, a laser communication terminal for aircraft. (Photo: Airbus)

While the aviation industry has maintained a consistent focus on the creation and implementation of new aircraft designs, other advancements in the industry are promising to bring great value to the aviation world. European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and high-tech Dutch producer VDL Group have just announced a partnership to design and build UltraAir, a laser communication terminal. With the support of development from Airbus and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the organizations hope to have a prototype and a first flight test completed by sometime next year.

UltraAir is a laser communication terminal with improved capabilities that make the more efficient transfer of data and information possible. Airbus has been developing the system since April of 2021 and has designed it to utilize laser links between a set of satellites in orbit and terminals on the ground equipped with a precise optical mechatronic system. 

“Laser communication technologies are the next revolution in satellite communications (satcom).” (Photo: European Space Agency)

UltraAir promises to address many of the challenges the use of radio frequency bands for communications present by having improved anti-jamming, a lower chance of interception and secure data transfers of 1.8Gbit/s. Additionally, it will allow the sharing of larger amounts of data through its use of the SpaceDataHighway satellite constellation, a project supported by Airbus and the European Space Agency that has allowed for thousands of connections since its conception over five years ago. As traditional satellite communication (satcom) radio-frequency bands struggle from more bottlenecks (which occur when they cannot handle the current volume of data due to inadequate handling capacity), the improved capabilities of UltraAir promise to be a step forward for communications in the aviation industry.

By next year, Airbus and VDL Group will further develop the prototype so it will be ready for integration with a test aircraft. VDL will be responsible for designs used during production and for manufacturing several critical systems needed to operate. Once completed, Airbus and VDL hope to have this further industrialized prototype flight tested by 2025.

UltraAir offers many opportunities to improve various sectors of the aviation industry. Features like its use of the SpaceDataHighway will allow both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) and military aircraft to connect in a multi-domain combat cloud, which will allow aircraft in the armed forces to combat more collaboratively and thus more efficiently. Beyond military aviation, the system could also be installed on commercial aircraft, which could give airlines the opportunity to offer high-speed connections to the flying public.

Airbus, TNO, and the VDL Group’s collaborative effort could bring further improvements to communications, regardless of the industry sector utilizing it. Laser communication can move 1,000 times more data than traditional satcom radio-frequency bands, and can do so 10 times quicker as well. Laser links have a narrower beam, making it much more difficult to be intercepted. Thanks to this, the laser terminals on the ground are lighter and more efficient, all while offering security better than radio.

The advancements found in UltraAir could offer the improved communications vital to maintaining the aviation industry’s safety and efficiency.

The post Airbus and VDL Announce Partnership to Develop UltraAir appeared first on Avionics International.

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Supernal to Utilize Microsoft Azure for eVTOL Development

Supernal is collaborating with Microsoft in development of its eVTOL aircraft for advanced air mobility. The collaboration aims to advance autonomy, cloud integration technologies, and digital operations by leveraging Microsoft Azure. (Photo: Courtesy of Microsoft)

Hyundai’s Supernal recently announced that it is collaborating with Microsoft in development of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility. The collaboration aims to advance autonomy, cloud integration technologies, and digital operations by leveraging Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform.

Microsoft will provide early access to Project AirSim to Supernal’s team. Project AirSim is a simulation platform that uses Azure to generate environment and sensory data that is used for training machine learning models. These models simulate different phases of flight in addition to changing weather conditions. By using Project AirSim, Supernal will be able to leverage simulation capabilities to build, test, and validate an autonomous vehicle in a safe manner.

Dr. Jaiwon Shin, President of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal, remarked in the announcement, “Supernal has an obligation to ensure safe and secure deployment of eVTOL vehicles. We are pleased to collaborate with Microsoft, a software leader, in responsibly advancing AAM [advanced air mobility] autonomous systems and information-sharing.”

Dr. Shin previously shared insights into Supernal in an interview with Avionics International. He mentioned that their team is engaging with other stakeholders to open up the market for AAM, in addition to focusing on vehicle development. He also noted that two of the main technological barriers for the industry are related to batteries and autonomous flight. 

Dr. Jaiwon Shin, left, and Ulrich Homann, right (Photo: Supernal and Microsoft)

Supernal is targeting certification for its first eVTOL aircraft in 2028. Mike Whitaker, Chief Commercial Officer, told Avionics that automation is more likely to happen in the mid-2030s. “It’s not just the certification of the vehicle and the technology. It’s also new airspace rules, because the FAA right now doesn’t have rules for autonomous operations in civil airspace,” he explained.

Ulrich Homann, Corporate Vice President of Cloud + AI at Microsoft, also commented on the new collaboration with Supernal, saying, “Air transport is a key pillar in the democratization of mobility, connecting more people, goods and places through safe flight experiences.”

“With the Microsoft Cloud, Supernal can unlock the computing power it takes to build, validate, and deploy electric air vehicles at scale, spurring the commercialization of advanced air mobility solutions.”

Microsoft is also collaborating with eVTOL developer Volocopter to develop an aerospace cloud system in Microsoft Azure. Azure will help to enable Volocopter’s VoloIQ digital platform as a flight support system. The two companies have collaborated since 2020, when Volocopter announced that it had selected Azure as its core cloud computing infrastructure for digital UAM operations.

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Northrop Grumman and NASA Form Partnership for UAS Airspace Integration

Northrop Grumman is working with NASA to develop and test solutions for integrating large uncrewed aircraft systems into the national airspace. They will focus on air cargo operations. The project is part of NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles subproject. (Photo: NASA/Maria Werries)

Northrop Grumman announced a new collaboration with NASA today. Their efforts will center around development and testing of solutions for the integration of large UAS (uncrewed aircraft systems) into the national airspace. The primary focus of the partnership is defining technologies and procedures to enable remotely piloted air cargo operations. Through these efforts, Northrop Grumman will be contributing to NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration (ATM-X) Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) subproject.

Experts from Northrop Grumman and NASA will coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration, plan flight demonstrations and simulations, and conduct flight readiness reviews.

Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, explained in the company’s press release that they are partnering with NASA to detail the requirements for enabling the integration of UAS into the airspace.

“Our work together will improve airspace access and transform how uncrewed systems are used to transport goods across U.S. airspace and help establish airspace integration critical to future manned unmanned teaming efforts,” he stated.

The current phase of the ATM-X project involves planning several simulations, tests, and demonstrations. This will inform the compilation of recommendations to the FAA for a possible framework to allow autonomous air cargo operations in the national airspace. According to a Northrop Grumman spokesperson, the next phase of the collaboration will involve performing the provided recommendations.

Subject matter experts from Northrop Grumman shared their insights into the collaboration with NASA during a media roundtable this week. Richard Sullivan, Vice President Future Programs, Global Surveillance Division, noted that they have been building towards this effort for a while and are excited about the potential. “It really enables us to highlight our eight decades of experience in developing autonomous capabilities,” he said. 

“We’re able to leverage this experience to inform NASA’s efforts to integrate uncrewed aircraft systems into national airspace.”

Advanced technologies are currently being developed that will enable collaboration and interoperability between jetliners flying in the airspace today and large UAS.

A Northrop Grumman-built MQ-4C Triton, the U.S. Navy’s premier high-altitude, long-endurance, maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform (Photo: U.S. Navy)

Sullivan added, “As an industry leader in autonomy, we have developed the first distributed autonomous framework. It allows military commanders today to control numerous uncrewed aircraft simultaneously. We see that as a close parallel of how the commercial and national airspace is going to be implemented.”

What needs to happen next, he said, is the updating of technologies, procedures, and policies. This will ensure a seamless and scalable integration for the implementation of cargo UAS operations. “It’s our work with NASA that is putting the things in place for the FAA to implement these policies,” he remarked.

Randy Willis, senior policy advisor at Northrop Grumman, confirmed during the media roundtable that Northrop Grumman has a strong relationship with the FAA. “We’ve petitioned for and received many special airworthiness certificates for our new and novel aircraft for test and demonstration purposes,” he explained.

Willis also mentioned that the company established the Office of Independent Airworthiness in 2014. “One of the focus areas is airworthiness certification, but another important piece is airspace integration,” he explained. “If the policies and procedures are not in place, the airframe cannot conduct its mission.”

Northrop Grumman has more than 400,000 hours of experience operating UAS, a key advantage in the partnership with NASA. That expertise, combined with advanced technologies, will enable the partners to achieve their objectives.

As the collaboration continues, Willis said, “Identifying operational gaps and particular policies and standards that need to be created in order to enable autonomous flight is key to our discussions with NASA.”

The post Northrop Grumman and NASA Form Partnership for UAS Airspace Integration appeared first on Avionics International.

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Skyfire and AeroVigilance Partner on Counter-UAS Services

In an announcement this week, Skyfire Consulting shared news of its official partnership with AeroVigilance to provide counter-UAS services. Through the partnership, these two companies are now able to offer training via industry experts and customized technology solutions to clients. (Photo: Skyfire)

In an announcement this week, Skyfire Consulting shared news of its official partnership with AeroVigilance. Skyfire is a consulting group focused on public safety UAS (uncrewed aircraft systems). AeroVigilance offers consulting and training services for counter-UAS. Both companies are platform-agnostic. 

Through the partnership, these two companies are now able to offer training via industry experts and customized technology solutions to clients. They also provide mentor support as well as assistance with policies and procedures.

A spokesperson for Skyfire provided detailed information about the new partnership in an emailed statement to Avionics International. “With our AeroVigilance partnership, we can now help organizations begin to develop their airspace awareness programs, policies, procedures, and training,” the company representative shared. 

“If our clients are seeking a technical solution, we can work with them to develop their user requirements and find technologies that meet their needs as well as stay within [the current] legal and regulatory framework.” 

Skyfire provides “offensive drone solutions to clients, like FAA regulatory support, training, critical infrastructure guidance and [is] a part of the majority of the Drone First Responder (DFR) programs in public safety across the country,” the spokesperson added.

“With increased adoption of offensive initiatives like drone first responder programs, partnering with an organization led by two of the most experienced C-UAS experts adds a complete 360-degree approach to security not currently offered in the market.” (Photo: Skyfire)

“Adding counter-UAS to Skyfire’s already robust suite of offerings is a natural next step, and something that will benefit our clients immediately. With increased adoption of offensive initiatives like drone first responder programs, partnering with an organization led by two of the most experienced C-UAS experts adds a complete 360-degree approach to security not currently offered in the market.” – Matt Sloane, Skyfire founder and CEO

AeroVigilance launched the C-UAS Hub, an online hub in November 2022 for jobs, vendors, products, services, news, and resources related to counter-UAS and airspace awareness. Just this week, the C-UAS Hub posted news of Black Sage Technologies, a platform provider of counter-UAS and security solutions, which was awarded a U.S. Air Force indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract worth $900 million. Black Sage’s team will conduct rapid technology development over the next five years.

Tom Adams, co-founder of AeroVigilance, remarked in the announcement about the partnership with Skyfire, “AeroVigilance is currently the only company bringing extensive urban homeland security Counter-UAS experience to the private and public-safety sector, and we’re thrilled to serve the large network Skyfire has built during the past decade.”

In addition to AeroVigilance, Skyfire is also partnering with Textron Systems to offer useful data on UAS for public safety agencies and Drone First Responder programs. Matt Sloane, founder and CEO of Skyfire, shared with Avionics, “We specialize in getting the right tools to the public safety agencies, the right hardware, software, and regulatory approvals.”

Sloane added, “Public safety pilots are really good at flying the drones and getting the data in an immediate fashion, but they don’t take it beyond the immediate. They’re great at collecting the data but they don’t really leverage it in a novel way.”

The post Skyfire and AeroVigilance Partner on Counter-UAS Services appeared first on Avionics International.

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OPINION: The Aerospace and Defense Industry Sets Its Sights On Sustainability

Sean Moore, Head of Aerospace & Defense Market Unit at Capgemini Americas, shares his thoughts on industry growth in the coming years, sustainability initiatives that are already taking place, and benefits of sustainability in the future. (Photo: Capgemini)

The world of technology is continuously advancing. Digital twins, 5G, and the metaverse are all prime examples of new innovations that have captivated organizations and leaders across industries. But while technology innovation is unpredictable and evolutionary, there is one priority that has nearly universal support—sustainability.  

Digital transformation is required to design, build, and maintain new products because without it, efficiency in research, development and production would never progress—and innovation would be stifled. In the aerospace and defense industry, for example, new fuels, aerodynamic designs, materials, and manufacturing devices all drive critical advances in innovation that pay massive dividends. 

Sustainability is the key to this process and requires new technology in order to make the evolutionary changes that drive efficiency and protect the Earth’s resources for future generations. Think of the shift to electric vehicles (EVs). In the early 2000s, hardly any auto manufacturers had a serious focus on electric cars—it was a fading thought of a culture that did not prioritize environmentalism. Today, electric vehicles are sweeping the automotive industry, with OEMs adjusting their offerings and pledging significant carbon emissions reductions in the years to come. Even the public sector has gotten involved, with the recent Infrastructure Bill allocating funds to charging infrastructure and other EV ambitions.  

Sustainability is driving material changes in how industries operate, even those that have historically high emission rates—and aerospace and defense is getting in on the action.   

Sustainability-driven industry growth  

The aerospace and defense industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, but the sector has often faced challenges mitigating its carbon footprint. To offset these roadblocks, leaders have begun to make significant green investments and swiftly close that gap. In fact, recent research shows that 20% of A&D organizations reported a decrease in costs due to implementation of sustainable product design strategies.  

For example, sustainability initiatives have been critical to the overall profitability of airlines for several years. Airlines looking to drive higher revenue per seat must lower operating costs, which is the impetus for new sustainability-driven technology initiatives that can enable more efficient operations.  

Beyond the business benefits of sustainability, regulatory bodies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have mandated improvements. In 2010, the FAA introduced a partnership with a handful of aerospace and defense organizations—the Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program. As a result of this alliance, over $375 million was invested in developing aircraft and engine technologies that reduce noise and emissions while increasing fuel efficiency over a five-year period.  

Initiatives taking shape  

For many companies in the aerospace and defense space, Digital Design, Manufacturing, and Services (DDMS) programs built on strategic partnerships with technology providers have revolutionized how they approach new research and development design, identification and tracking of production defects, and the use of new manufacturing concepts such as 3D printing or exoskeletons. 

What’s further, there are many use cases already in development and in effect that are making significant strides, including:  

• Advanced aerodynamic attachments such as winglets and tail cones, which increase efficiency on aircrafts. Widely deployed today, several prominent organizations in this industry have already reported efficiency gains between 20 and 25%.  
• Alternative fuels—such as hydrogen-fueled aircrafts—which have been explored for over a decade. More recently, a civil and military aerospace developer has unveiled concepts that run on liquid hydrogen and plan to enter them into service by 2035, while another is creating a program that widens the view to alternative fuels such as those derived from algae, waste fats, oils, and greases.  
• Increased focus on sustainability in factories and offices, such as the development of annual sustainability reports, the use of renewables to power facilities, and achieving net zero CO2 emissions from manufacturing plants.  
• Intelligent Industry approaches to planning, materials management, supplier and vendor management and manufacturing, such as model-based systems engineering (MBSE), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and digital manufacturing—converging operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT).  
• “Factories of the future” driving the convergence of IT and OT in order to increase efficiency and speed up the timeline from development to distribution.  

Benefits for the future  

Beyond protecting the environment, the increased prevalence of sustainability in the aerospace and defense industry has many other positive implications.  

Take aircraft, for example. As advances are made in the propulsion of aircrafts, there will be a significant lowering of emissions as well as increased range, increased power from smaller or more efficient engines, and reduced noise. All of this leads to increased profitability, more availability of flights due to reduced maintenance, and a more connected global community. This outcome is similar to what occurred in the automotive industry when large V8 engines were replaced with smaller engines that are just as—if not more—efficient and powerful as the outgoing ones.  

Innovation is what keeps the wheels of existence turning, but there can’t be innovation without a future on which to build new technologies. The increased prioritization of sustainability is the key to fostering digital transformation across industries, and that’s certainly the case in aerospace and defense—as this harmonious relationship will pave the way for the technologies yet to come.  

This article was contributed by guest writer Sean Moore, Head of Aerospace & Defense Market Unit, Capgemini Americas.

The post OPINION: The Aerospace and Defense Industry Sets Its Sights On Sustainability appeared first on Avionics International.

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Power Outage Disrupts Flight Operations in the Philippines

Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippines encountered operational disruptions due to a severe power outage as thousands tried to return home after the holiday season. (Photo: Marielle Descalsota/Insider)

Returning demand for air travel combined with the busy holiday season has led to millions of travelers across the world to return to the skies as they traveled to visit family and loved ones. While this is good news for the airline industry, this demand surge has been accompanied with operational disruptions that have left thousands of passengers stranded or scrambling to arrange alternative travel plans. Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport has become the next hub to encounter operational disruptions as thousands tried to return home after the holiday season.

These operational disruptions were caused by a severe power outage that occurred on Sunday morning. At around 9:50 a.m. local time, a blower for the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) began breaking down. At this time, the backup UPS also failed to come online, which resulted in the internet, radios, radars, and other communication channels shutting down. Because of this, the airport’s Air Traffic Management Center was forced to suspend operations. Just after noon, some power was able to be restored. However, due to a following power surge, several critical very small aperture terminals (VSATs) were broken.

As a result of this power outage and the Air Traffic Management Center suspending operations, 282 flights were impacted. Some were delayed, some canceled, and several inbound flights were forced to divert to other airports. For example, Qantas Flight #19 departed Sydney, Australia, bound for Manila at just after noon local time on Jan. 1. However, three hours into the flight, it was forced to turn around and fly back to Australia as a result of the air traffic control shut down. By that afternoon, all airlines were restricted from landing in Manila.

To make matters worse, as a result of these disruptions, no aircraft could even use the airspace above the Philippines. This meant several flights that were currently en route were forced to deviate from their flight plans and take an alternative course. On New Year’s Day alone, 56,000 passengers were impacted by the power outage. By late afternoon, several flights were able to arrive and depart from Manila, but many have criticized the Philippines’ air traffic control technology and questioned how something like this could happen.

Jaime Bautista, the Secretary of Transportation for the Philippines, explained that he too was frustrated by the power outages and unhappy with the current technology the country’s air traffic control system uses, saying, “This was an air traffic management system issue. If you will compare with Singapore’s, for one, there is a big difference—they are at least 10 years ahead of us.”

Fixing the issues with the Philippines’ outdated air traffic control system would be a complex and costly task that could take years to fully implement. In fact, by the time the current system was fully in place, it was already outdated due to delays in the rollout of the technology. In the meantime, the transportation department has worked with the airlines to get passengers food and accommodations. Future investigations into this problem and the entire air traffic control system are likely to follow in the near future.

The post Power Outage Disrupts Flight Operations in the Philippines appeared first on Avionics International.

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