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The Latest Advancements in UAS

In recent years, the world has seen a rapid rise of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). While it started as a small sector of the aviation industry, its popularity and relevance across a variety of disciplines has fueled its growth to a mainstream concept. In recent months, UAS has appeared in countless headlines, illustrating the versatility that this technology offers for different industries across the world.

The progress UAS has made would not be possible without some degree of acceptance from regulatory bodies. Governments across the world have adjusted legislation and granted approval for a variety of drone-based projects designed to improve efficiency and convenience for various stakeholders. For example, Reno-based operator Skydrop recently received Part 102 approval from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch a delivery drone hub in Huntly, New Zealand. Also operating some beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, the company is the first store-to-door drone delivery to receive approval in New Zealand.

Drone developers and operators have made some key announcements in recent months, demonstrating progress from Chile and New Zealand to China and beyond. (Photo: Skydrop)

In some areas of the world, like China, drone regulations are already designed to encourage innovation and experimentation with UAS. In recent months, A2Z Drone Delivery Inc., a company dedicated to developing drone delivery technology, announced its plan to expand its test facility in Anji County near Shanghai, China. Given the diversity of both geography and weather conditions in the region, A2Z can further test its delivery solutions to gauge the reliability and consistency of its technology. A2Z is just one of many developers making progress on UAS ambitions: others, like Zipline, have already unveiled new, completely autonomous systems for delivery.

“In cooperation with local officials, we are able to conduct drone deliveries to actual consumers, giving us first-hand knowledge of how the end consumer will interact with our delivery drones.” (Photo: A2Z)

While testing in China, A2Z believes the information it receives and adjustments it makes during the technology’s trial run in Anji County will allow it to create a product better suited for the rest of the world. As Aaron Zhang, founder of A2Z Drone Delivery, explained, “To truly push the boundaries of autonomous unmanned drone delivery our development team needs to be able to test our latest delivery drone systems under real-life conditions. As the US regulations expand to compete with those in operation around the world, we will be ready to take to the skies with the most cutting-edge systems that have been proven safe, reliable and economical thanks to the testing and delivery missions we are able to do in Anji right now.”

In the past week, A2Z also announced the rollout of the RDSX Pelican, its new flagship long-range delivery drone. It’s a hybrid VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) model, and initial deliveries are expected to start in June.

“The new Pelican leverages a hybrid VTOL airframe with no control surfaces to combine the reliability and flight stability of a multirotor platform, with the extended range of a fixed wing craft.” (Photo: A2Z)

A2Z Drone Delivery launched a new integrated cargo drone and a second-generation delivery winch system last summer. A2Z’s CEO Aaron Zhang told Avionics, “We’ve been working on this delivery winch as our core product.”

Implementation of UAS extends beyond delivery. In fact, some agencies are using it to replace traditional means of entertainment. Because of this new demand, UMILES, which operates a line of drone light shows, has just announced an expansion into Chile. The company’s service involves choreographing over 200 drones to create eye-catching demonstrations in the sky. Often seen as a cleaner and safer alternative to firework shows, UMILES has over 30 shows planned for 2023 already, mainly for private businesses and local agencies.

“Since the new European regulation on UAS came into effect in January 2021 there has been a steep increase in demand, and Drone Light Show already has more than 30 shows in the pipeline for 2023.” (Photo: UMILES)

Part of the UMILES Group is a division dedicated to electric VTOL development—UMILES Next. The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Óscar Lara, talked about their autonomous Concept Integrity aircraft in an interview with Avionics last November.

Given recent developments in the progress and demand for UAS, it is apparent that this new technology will play an influential role in a variety of industries ranging from delivery and channel management to entertainment. The coming years will see an unprecedented introduction of new UAS technology to make the lives of people across the world easier.

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Updates on the AIR ONE eVTOL from CEO Rani Plaut

AIR is wrapping up the design phase of its production aircraft, the AIR ONE eVTOL. (Photo: AIR)

Avionics caught up with the CEO of AIR, Rani Plaut, on the company’s latest progress and its goals for the AIR ONE eVTOL aircraft. AIR first unveiled its eVTOL and began accepting pre-orders for the vehicle in October 2021. The U.S. market is the primary target for the AIR ONE, although customers from Israel and the U.K. have placed pre-orders for units as well. The first hover test with the full-scale prototype was conducted in June 2022, and in December, the eVTOL completed its first full transition flight.

Plaut shared that they are flying regularly with their full-scale prototype and plan to start another flight campaign in mid-May. “We are opening the envelope, so to speak, coming to full performance—probably not this flight campaign, but the next one,” he said.

AIR is currently in the final stages of design for the mass production version of its aircraft, according to Plaut. He noted that there is cross-pollination between the flight testing and the design process. With the flight testing, “there is a feedback loop into elements in the final design of the mass production unit. Also, elements from the mass production units are being tested on a regular basis on the technological prototype. We are now finishing the last tweaks to the final design.”

Previously, AIR was exploring various options. However, the company is now focused on narrowing down its choices and finalizing the performance specifications. Plaut expects that the range will be close to 100 miles.

“We reduced the speed a little bit,” he stated. “Being a battery-operated aircraft is very limiting on the performance, meaning we have a specific speed where we can obtain the maximum range.”

The AIR ONE has a maximum speed of 250 kmh (155 mph) and a cruise speed of 161 kmh (100 mph). (Photo: AIR)

The team is also in the final stages of design and development for the aircraft’s distributed patented flight control system. The AIR ONE is designed to continue operating even if one of the subsystems in the flight control system encounters an issue.

“Our approach is not having any degraded emergency mode,” Plaut explained. For piloting a conventional aircraft, “in case of an emergency, you move from a regular course of operation to a degraded emergency mode where you have to change the way you operate, the way you approach things.

“In the case of the AIR ONE, you don’t have that at all. The flight control system takes care of it inherently. There is no choosing of operations and you don’t have to change the way you operate as a pilot.”

Plaut revealed that they have secured suppliers for about 85% of the components for the initial batch of mass-produced eVTOLs. The first batch of 400 units is locked in, although registration is open to get in line for the next round of pre-orders.

AIR plans to start building the units for mass production in the U.S. by the end of the year. Plaut mentioned that they are hoping to see the production aircraft fly in the first quarter of 2024.

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Corporate Travel Makes Slow Recovery, According to 2023 Report from Deloitte

Leisure travel has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but the recovery of corporate travel has been slower due to various factors. Deloitte recently released its 2023 Corporate Travel report titled “Navigating Toward a New Normal.” The report, based on a survey of 334 executives with travel budget oversight from the United States and Europe, reveals that although corporate travel is beginning to take off, a full recovery is not expected this year. Companies are cautious as they prioritize cost and sustainability goals, resulting in a projection of corporate travel spend remaining smaller than pre-pandemic levels. Deloitte’s report includes a projected timeline for recovery and analysis of the shifting dynamics in travel priorities.

Some of the key findings from the 2023 Corporate Travel report:

Corporate travel’s rebound is on similar trajectories in the United States and Europe. Spend in the combined markets is projected to surpass half of 2019 levels in the first half of 2023, and two-thirds by the end of the year.

While full recovery to 2019 spend volume appears likely by late 2024 or early 2025, adjusting for lost growth and inflation indicates that in real terms, corporate travel will likely be smaller than it was prior to the pandemic.

International trips continue to grow, as challenges decline for visiting parts of the world. US respondents expect international’s share of travel costs to jump from 21% in 2022 to 33% in 2023. European respondents expect 32% of 2023 spend to go to international trips within the continent, and 28% beyond.

Expected recovery in travel spending (Photo: Deloitte)

Eileen Crowley, who leads Deloitte & Touche LLP’s US Audit & Assurance Transportation, Hospitality & Services practice, offered further insights into the report in a recent interview with Avionics International. She underscored that, although the respondents don’t expect a full recovery of corporate travel to pre-pandemic levels this year, most do foresee a recovery by the end of 2024.

“There’s a lot of other factors that companies, CFOs, and CEOs are considering as it relates to the cost benefit of travel and the return on investment for outlining those travel dollars,” Crowley explained. One factor that may have contributed to a slower recovery for business travel is the use of technology to replace the need to travel, in many cases. Internal meetings are a prime example of where companies may opt to set up a virtual meeting rather than pay for the costs of travel.

In comparison, corporate travel for events like live conferences—which enable the development of client relationships—remain important. If travel results in revenue-generating new relationships, Crowley said, “those are trips that people are going to take, based on what we’re hearing from our survey responses.”

She noted that another interesting finding from their survey was an increase in travel to companies’ headquarters compared to before the pandemic. Previously, most employees were centered around the corporate headquarters and would travel out to meet clients. Now, with more fully remote employees and greater workplace flexibility, it’s more common to have them travel to the office.

Predictions for corporate travel spending in the first half of 2023 (Photo: Deloitte)

Sustainability is also a key factor in trends related to business travel. Many companies have introduced initiatives to reduce their impact on the environment and have set sustainability targets for 2030, 2040, and beyond.

“We are seeing that companies are starting to try and gather more data from their vendors about what impacts to the environment a trip may have, whether it’s carbon emissions or electric rental cars,” Crowley remarked. “What we’re not seeing yet is the cost that they’re willing to pay for sustainable products. They’re not necessarily curbing travel because of sustainability. They may be curbing travel because of cost or technology.”

Essentially, it’s becoming more important for companies to have the necessary data to be prepared to reach their sustainability goals and mitigate their environmental impact. “42% of companies in the U.S. are implementing strategies to assign carbon emissions to a team’s budget,” she noted.

“I think they’re trying to prepare themselves to have enough information to share with their organization internally, to make the best decisions that contribute to hitting their targets that they have announced.”

Another report published earlier this year by international aircraft leasing company Avolon predicts that global air traffic will return to pre-pandemic levels by June. And, according to Argus International’s 2022 North American Business Aviation Review, business aviation is growing again despite numerous disruptions. Total flight activity increased by 15.5% in 2022 compared to 2019 levels, and increased by 5.1% compared to 2021 levels.

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Merlin’s New Chief Policy Officer Shares Thoughts on the Future of Autonomous Flight

The new Chief Policy Officer at Merlin, Travis Mason, discusses the need to reimagine and reshape aviation rules for the integration of new technologies; the importance of the human-technology relationship in the flight deck; and upcoming regulatory progress. (Photos: Merlin)

As the aviation industry continues to evolve, the rules governing flight operations must adapt to accommodate the emergence of cutting-edge technologies and innovative business models. In an interview with Merlin’s new Chief Policy Officer, Travis Mason, we delve into the world of autonomous flight and the critical role policy-making plays in this rapidly changing landscape. Mason also shares his perspective on the vital relationship between humans and technology in the flight deck.

Merlin develops autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft that works in tandem with national airspace systems and a human safety pilot onboard the aircraft. The company’s strategy includes three phases: first, its team will work with New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority and the FAA to certify its technology and integrate it into commercial flights in New Zealand. Second, it hopes to reduce crews on large commercial cargo aircraft. Third, Merlin plans to enable flights for large aircraft with reduced crews and to enable uncrewed flights for small aircraft.

From challenging existing regulations to shaping a safer and more sustainable future for aviation, Merlin intends to play a key role in transforming the industry. Check out our question-and-answer session with Mason below.

Travis Mason, pictured above, will lead a team of certification, compliance, and engineering experts in the certification process of the autonomous technology developed by Merlin.

Avionics: What brought you to the Chief Policy Officer role at Merlin?

Travis Mason: I love making rules when old ones no longer work. Aviation is one of those places where old rules need to be reimagined in order for new technologies and new business models to take shape—and to put us in a place where we have a safer, more eco-friendly, more resilient product in aviation. What drew me to Merlin is I get to help change the rules for the future of aviation and help reshape those rules for new technologies.

What are some of your priorities as CPO?

My first priority is to lead the team that I’m in charge of well. I lead a team of regulatory experts and engineers that are charged with certifying our technology, ensuring that it meets—and in some respects exceeds—the safety standards set by regulators. My first role is ensuring that the folks I work with are listened to and that together we shape the vision for the company.

One of the things that you can see us leaning into is this notion of better enabling a relationship between humans and the machines that they use in the flight deck. Since the dawn of the jet age, technology has been maturing alongside the growth of aviation. Really the only way that we scale these future visions in aviation is to get the human-technology relationship better and better. It’s something that we’re dealing with today in aviation, and it’s one of the greatest challenges that we have moving forward, as more automation and new technologies enter the flight deck.

One of the priorities for our team is creating a vision and creating a focus in those areas so that it can enable what we’re building to be safer for the flight deck and safer for the skies. It also helps to enable us to get through the certification efforts that we’re undertaking in a more streamlined way—as we think about how this technology engages with the humans in the flight deck and the humans who are working on traffic management throughout the national airspace.

How do you see the industry evolving over the next five years?

I think in the next five years, you’ll see even more interest in this space. We know that there are many issues the industry is facing: everything from environmental sustainability to pilot shortage. One of the issues is this notion of teaming between our pilots and the increased technology that they are meeting in the fight deck. This is not just an issue for aviation; it’s an issue for manufacturing, health care, [and] in finance as automation and AI enter those spaces.

Figuring out how we as humans collaborate with this technology is going to be super important so that we lean in to our strengths and the technology. We have a better product that way. In some cases, particularly in aviation, we can create a safer network, but that assumes that we’ve done the homework of getting that relationship to a better place.

Is there anything you can share about upcoming milestones or objectives for the next year or so that we might expect to see from Merlin?

Pretty soon, we will announce more about what’s going on from a certification perspective of the programs underway with regulators in New Zealand and verification with the FAA. You’ll hear us talk more about how that activity is going. You’ll also hear us talk about how this activity relates to other efforts we may pursue in the near future this year. We’ll have more updates very soon on our regulatory progress, and in particular, how our certification program is going in New Zealand.

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Teledyne FLIR Expands Resolution Options for Thermal Camera

Teledyne FLIR added new Boson+ thermal resolution options, radiometry, and MIPI interface. (Photos: Teledyne FLIR)

In early April, Teledyne FLIR announced an expansion of the Boson+ thermal camera module product line with 24 compact models featuring 320 x 256 resolution. Boson+ is a longwave infrared (LWIR) camera line that can be integrated into unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and used for a wide range of applications. Last month’s updates included MIPI and CMOS interfaces available on any resolution, in addition to the ability to detect temperature of each pixel.

Last week, Teledyne shared news of growth within its Thermal by FLIR program. The Teal 2 drone and BRINC’s LEMUR 2 drone—small UAS—both integrate Teledyne’s thermal camera modules.

Teledyne FLIR, originally FLIR Systems, was acquired by Teledyne Technologies in early 2021.

Oscar Angel, Product Manager at Teledyne FLIR, explained in a recent interview with Avionics International that the Boson+ camera is size, weight, and power (SWaP) optimized for a variety of different applications—“anything that requires thermal imaging within the spectrum of eight to 14 microns,” he said.

The camera requires no active lighting, which offers a lot of advantages for drone operations in particular. For applications like search-and-rescue, being able to locate a target at night becomes much easier with a thermal camera.

“We’re now starting to see more and more drone companies wanting to operate entirely at night,” Angel shared. “In autonomous unmanned applications, visible sensors have a limitation at night. They can implement low light sensors, but there’s still limitations with those. We’re seeing a trend in adding more of these thermal sensors onto airframes for nighttime navigation.”

The Boson+ sensor is about the size of a sugar cube. The compact and lightweight cameras can be integrated into most systems easily. “Our Hadron R product integrates a visible sensor as well as a thermal sensor,” he added. “Our customers do various integrations into gimbals.”

“Boson+ is in volume manufacturing and is a drop-in upgrade for systems designed with Boson, making upgrades low risk and plug-and-play simple.” – Dan Walker, vice president, product management, OEM cores at Teledyne FLIR54

Teal, a drone company that is working with Teledyne FLIR, provides drones for industrial and military applications. Angel noted that Teal’s drones can be used by firefighters to monitor the progress of a wildfire. Conventional helicopters are often utilized for firefighting, but drones are much less expensive to acquire and operate.

Angel and the Teledyne FLIR team have observed an increase in the use of MIPI (mobile industry processor interface) sensors for drones. UAS use processors similar to those of mobile phone processors. “We’re more broadly deploying the MIPI interface. We added that into every single Boson camera part number so customers are able to switch back and forth,” he said.

He shared with Avionics that they are working on filtering to improve image quality later this year, and they may also be working on unique automatic gain control in the near term. A next-generation camera with a smaller pixel pitch is on Teledyne’s long-term roadmap. “As we’ve seen over the last 20 years, the trend is to continue to go into smaller and smaller size packages,” Angel stated.

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Rain Aero Enables Remote Operation of Drones & Helicopters for Firefighting

Rain Aero, a company specializing in advanced aviation technologies for firefighting, has successfully developed remote operation kits for both small rotorcraft drones and full-sized Black Hawk helicopters, aiming to strategically deploy a fleet of drones to dispense fire retardant ahead of wildfires in high-risk areas across California. (Photo: ANDREA DUNLAP / RAIN)

Rain Aero, a California-based company using advanced aviation technologies to fight wildfires, has successfully equipped both a small rotorcraft drone and a full-sized Black Hawk helicopter with a kit that allows remote operation.

The company has plans to outfit a fleet of drones, based strategically where fires most often erupt around California, where they can be automatically alerted and remotely deployed to dispense fire retardant ahead of advancing flames, Rain’s Chief Executive Maxwell Brodie said.

“We are building this technology as an integration kit to bring to existing aircraft and existing platforms,” Brodie said during a webinar hosted by the Helicopter Association International. “We want to be able for our fire agency customers to be able to bring their own aircraft to us and for us to be able to upgrade them as it relates to the broader community here. This technology is of course able to help in the interim between now and when it’s deployed in increasing safety.”

Rain just “put a wrap on” its smaller in-house platform, a small remotely operated single-main-rotor drone called the Mosquito. These aircraft are specifically designed to disperse fire retardant spray on the ground ahead of advancing firelines, Brodie said. They are not big enough to operate in the high winds that often attend large fires and have to operate too low to the ground for their downwash not to actually fan the flames while attempting to fight fires directly, he said.

It also has integrated the remote piloting kit onto a Black Hawk, which already has flown—with safety pilots aboard—while being controlled by the company’s remote crew in Alameda, California. Eventually, large, water-carrying aircraft could fly during the day and at night using similar technologies to either fly with no crew on board or to assist the crew with complex mission management tasks.

(Photo: RAIN)

“The technology that powers the mosquito translates to larger aircraft as well,” Brodie said. “So there’s nothing fundamental about the technology that’s different between the mosquito and the larger platforms like the Black Hawk that would prevent, say the Black Hawk from operating at night as well in an uncrewed manner. The capabilities that we have demonstrated to date have not included night operations, but it’s something that we’re very keen to work on as we bring the technology towards commercialization.”

Brodie would not comment on where the fundamental remote operation technology—which also includes elements of autonomous flight controls—originated. But it sounds a lot like what Sikorsky is doing with its MATRIX technology. Envisioned as a sort of digital co-pilot, MATRIX takes over many of the mundane, routine elements of flight management and assists a pilot with flying the aircraft, to the point that a full-sized helicopter can be operated by a single tablet computer.

Last year, the Army, working with Sikorsky and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) successfully integrated MATRIX, through the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System, or ALIAS, program onto its own UH-60 Black Hawk. That helicopter has flown remotely with no personnel on board.

“It’s a very exciting time to be in this space at this time, because these aircraft automation platforms have existed and emerged and have benefited from nearly two decades worth of maturation,” Brodie said. “We are not building soup to nuts here. There’s so many giants that we’re able to partner with and add capacity or capabilities to, so the short version is it’s an exciting time to be working in a space where there are multiple aircraft automation platforms that are supporting legendary aircraft like the Blackhawk.”

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U.S. Air Force Extends Contract with Joby by $55M

Joby’s contract with the U.S. Air Force was extended for a third time, bringing the potential value of the total contract to $131 million. The eVTOL developer also signed a long-term agreement with Toyota Motor Corporation, which will provide key powertrain and actuation components. (Photos: Joby Aviation)

Joby Aviation announced this week that its Agility Prime contract with the U.S. Air Force has been extended for a third time. The total contract is now valued up to $131 million, having increased by $55 million. Joby agreed to deliver and operate as many as nine of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to the USAF and other federal agencies beginning early next year.

Joby’s eVTOLs will serve to demonstrate cargo and passenger transportation capabilities as well as other potential logistics use cases. The company could be the first to have its eVTOLs stationed at a military base in the U.S.

Joby’s plan is to launch commercial eVTOL operations in 2025 following certification.

“Today’s announcement comes days after four Air Force pilots, hosted by Joby at its manufacturing facility in Marina, California, became the first Air Force personnel to fly an eVTOL as sole pilot-in-command through the full flight envelope, including transition from vertical to wingborne flight.”

“Getting Air Force pilots trained and operating Joby aircraft at an Air Force installation is an incredibly important milestone for the program, providing key insights to actual operations and use case validation for advanced air mobility aircraft,” remarked Lt. Col. Tom Meagher, AFWERX Prime Lead. He added that the contract provides “an outstanding opportunity for accelerated learning with the other Department of Defense services and government agencies, including NASA and the FAA.”

“We’re honored to continue the tradition of accelerating emerging aviation technology as we become the first base to exercise electric air taxis as they are intended to be used in commercial operations.” – Lt. Col. Adam Brooks, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force commander

This week, Joby also announced the signing of a long-term agreement with Toyota Motor Corporation Inc. Toyota will provide key powertrain and actuation components necessary for producing Joby’s eVTOL. Toyota has invested close to $400 million into the eVTOL developer already, making it the largest external shareholder.

Kazuhiro Sato (left) and Jordin Gischler (right) with a completed tilt actuator that was manufactured at the San Carlos production facility; key parts were supplied by Toyota.

“Our mutual goal is mass production of eVTOL and helping Joby apply the best practices of the Toyota Production System in meeting high quality, reliability, safety, and strict cost standards,” stated Keiji Yamamoto, Toyota Motor Corporation Connected Company President.

In February, Joby completed the second stage in the type certification process. The FAA requires companies to progress through five stages before receiving type certification for commercial passenger use of their aircraft. Joby claims that it is the first eVTOL developer to complete the second stage of the process.

Joby is also in a long-term partnership with Delta Air Lines. The teams will coordinate to offer eVTOL flights to Delta’s customers once Joby has launched commercial operations. The airline also made an upfront equity investment in Joby totaling $60 million. There is a possibility of expanding that investment to $200 million, according to the announcement from October 2022.

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Enabling Advanced Air Mobility: Insights From EUROCONTROL and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau

This is the second in a two-part series covering a panel discussion on international cooperation for enabling advanced air mobility, featuring perspectives from EUROCONTROL and the JCAB. The AUVSI and the FAA hosted the discussion.

Last week, a panel of experts discussed the challenges and opportunities associated with cooperating internationally on advanced air mobility, or AAM. Jessica Orquina, Manager of the Implementation Branch for the FAA’s Safety & Integration Division in the UAS Integration Office, served as the moderator for the panel discussion. See insights from the FAA, Honeywell, and ANRA in our coverage of the first part of the panel discussion, published last week.

During the session, Tatsuya Hosaka, Deputy Director of the UAS/AAM Division for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) within the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), talked about Japan’s efforts to enable AAM operations. “We have plans to realize commercial flights using AAM at Osaka Kansai Expo in 2025,” he shared. “We expect to expand services to all over Japan from 2025 onwards. So we have been proceeding with various considerations regarding AAM.”

Hosaka noted that it is necessary to establish rules regarding aircraft safety and operations, and to conduct safety reviews for the classification of aircraft. “In order to develop systems and standards in Japan, we have established a Public Private Council (PPC) whose members are aircraft manufacturers, operators, and related agencies,” he explained.

“In addition, we have set up some working groups under the PPC, and specific studies have been conducted. We believe that improving social acceptability and building business models are essential for AAM. We have continued to exchange information with public and private stakeholders such as local governments, operators, and manufacturers.”

Andrew Hately, a researcher at EUROCONTROL’s Experimental Centre, responded to a question posed by Jessica Orquina of the FAA: How do you see AAM developing in Europe, and how can this be harmonized with activities elsewhere around the world?

“Quite a number of the commercial actors in the AAM environment are in a real rush to get flying as soon as possible,” Hately stated. “So there’s a bit of a tension with the actions of the regulators. In Europe, we’ve essentially tried to divide the problem.”

“We’re looking at a number of new innovations which are coming along simultaneously,” he continued. “These include new vehicles with electric power; we have UTM, [or] U-space, and we have remote control of the aircraft. We have new infrastructure—vertiports—and new airspace structures.”

“The aim of the regulator in Europe is to try and look at these one by one and individually convince themselves something is safe and can work,” he said. In Europe, the SESAR Joint Undertaking is leading a significant research program. The SESAR JU commissions a wide range of research projects.

Hately remarked of EUROCONTROL, “We are taking part in quite a number of research projects which are trying to push the envelope towards maturity as fast as we can to see if we can meet the aspirations of those who would like to operate eVTOLs and have them flying at the 2024 Olympics.”

He noted that there is a lot of pressure in the direction of progress; “We’re doing what we can.” From his perspective, it is most important to take a collaborative approach in Europe. The SESAR JU is driving research projects that involve cooperative efforts. That indicates how the entire world should work to advance AAM: “a harmonized research agenda that will lead us towards rapid and common solutions,” Hately explained.

The FAA’s Jessica Orquina asked Tatsuya Hosaka of the JCAB what challenges Japan faces related to AAM integration. “There is a difference in [altitude] between conventional aircraft and AAM,” he stated. “It goes without saying that the flight levels of AAM are lower than conventional aircraft. However, we need to give careful consideration to AAM flight in specific areas such as around airports and very low-level airspace.”

Hosaka explained that in Japan, they are just starting to create a new concept for a system to enable air traffic control of advanced air mobility vehicles, though it is still under consideration. “The system may be integrated with ATM [air traffic management] in the future,” he added.

“I’m a little worried about the human resources shortage, but for the initial operations, including operations at Osaka Kansai Expo, we plan to use the existing systems,” Hosaka said. “So eVTOLs are going to be operated under VFR with existing systems.”

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Turkey Plans to Upgrade Its F-16 Cockpits in $259M Deal with Lockheed

Turkey has secured a $259 million foreign military sale agreement with Lockheed Martin, approved by the U.S. State Department, to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighters by enhancing avionics and flight control systems, including software refresh and hardware modifications for improved capabilities. (Photo: Turkish Ministry of Defense)

Turkey will upgrade the avionics and flight control systems in its fleet of F-16 fighters under a new agreement with Lockheed Martin recently greenlit by the U.S. State Department.

The NATO ally requested and has been approved for a $259 million foreign military sale (FMS) of “defense articles and services” to upgrade its current fleet of F-16s and support equipment, according to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

The upgrades will include software refresh of the aircraft’s operational flight program (OFP) avionics, which has an automatic ground collision avoidance system (AGCAS) capability and hardware modifications to enable integration of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Block Upgrade II (MIDS BU II), procured separately.

Also included in the FMS package are hardware and software upgrades to include aircraft major modification, classified and unclassified software and software support, integration and test support, support equipment, training equipment, spare parts, U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistical support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated total cost is $259 million.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve [Turkey’s] interoperability with NATO and ensure safety of flight for [Turkey’s] existing F-16 aircraft,” DSCA said in a statement. “The proposed sale will improve [Turkey’s] capability to meet current and future threats and assist in defending its homeland and U.S. personnel stationed there.”

Lockheed Martin, which built the F-16 at the Fort Worth, Texas, plant where it now builds the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, will handle the upgrades but will not need to send contractors to Turkey to overhaul the jet cockpits, DSCA said.

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SmartSky Expands In-Flight Connectivity Coverage and Launches Private Intranet Routing

SmartSky Networks anticipates obtaining STCs for multiple aircraft models. The company also introduced SmartSky Private Intranet routing this week, powered by its Skytelligence services platform, to enhance their air-to-ground connectivity offerings. Pictured above is SmartSky’s flagship hardware. (Photos: SmartSky Networks)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Last week, SmartSky Networks—provider of air-to-ground in-flight connectivity—made an announcement that it expects to complete Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for at least seven aircraft models this quarter. The next one coming up is an STC from the FAA for the Dassault Falcon 2000. The expected STC would complement the certification received for the Falcon 900 earlier this year.

“We’re going to almost double our STC count,” remarked CEO Dave Helfgott in an interview with Avionics International at the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) Convention this week. “Our goal is to have over two-thirds of the addressable market covered by the end of the year, and more if we go faster. We’re going as fast as we can right now,” he said.

The company announced the launch of SmartSky Private Intranet routing at the start of this week. The Private Intranet (PI) routing is powered by SmartSky’s Skytelligence services platform, which connects the aircraft interface device to the SmartSky air-to-ground (ATG) network.

“We’re also expanding the work we’re doing in Skytelligence, not just for private intranet,” remarked Ryan Stone, president and co-founder of SmartSky.

Avionics International has previously featured insights from both Stone and Helfgott regarding its ATG connectivity service. The Cessna Citation X series aircraft was issued an STC last fall. The CEO and the president also discussed the company’s strategic relationship with Textron Aviation.

SmartSky has recently been conducting demonstration flights to showcase its ATG technology. As part of the “SmartSky Experience Tour,” the team flew passengers in partnership with Thornton Aviation at Van Nuys Airport in California earlier this month.

Stone sees their biggest challenge as communicating to potential customers the value of their offerings. “When we are able to spend time with someone and take them on a demo flight, they get it. But we can’t do that for everybody,” he explained to Avionics.

“It’s hard to relay that because you get so caught up in technobabble or hand-waving,” said Helfgott. “The real question is, what was the experience like? Are you actually able to take as many devices as you want and do whatever you want with them while you’re flying? That’s the real test. It’s just very hard to scale that; you can’t take everybody in America up on a plane.”

“We’re showing people that you don’t have to lower your expectations any more when you board the aircraft,” added Stone.

SmartSky enables the use of multiple devices in-flight.

The launch of PI routing this week underscores the capabilities of SmartSky’s network architecture compared to a more generic approach of connecting to aircraft, such as by satellite. The company’s physical and RF networks enable creation of a private network, Helfgott explained.

“With the 5G technology-based network, where you have beamforming, software-defined radios, and software-defined networking, that combination allows us to go towards the safety side of services in conjunction with an aircraft interface device,” rather than just focusing on the back of the cabin, Stone said.

“The other way to think about it is from the enterprise perspective,” he continued. “When you go to an office, your laptop connects to the network in the office. That’s secured by the IT department of an enterprise. IT departments set standards, and the egress point to the internet is through that IT department. So they have a lot of control for security and privacy. This essentially extends that network to now make it so that in the aircraft, when you sit down with your laptop, you can have the same virtualized physical infrastructure.”

Simply put, SmartSky creates a safe and secure bubble inside of a company’s defined private network, noted Helfgott. “It opens up the rest of the aircraft to other types of applications that haven’t been explored as rigorously as they can be. Connected aircraft is more than just the back of the plane—it’s flight operations and it’s the cockpit,” he commented.

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