The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) will lead the UK Department for Transport’s new research and development project that will lay the ground work for a safe working environment for commercial UAS use in the UK.
The new project aims to explore a future UAS traffic management (UTM) framework that will help the UAS operators to participate in the intelligent control of airspace, in order to enable the safe sharing of airspace with traditional aircraft and beyond line of sight operations of UAS.
For the project, the TSC will collaborate with Altitude Angel, ANRA Technologies, Cranfield University, NATS, Satellite Applications Catapult and Thales UK to develop the requirements and validation methods for a UTM framework. The outputs from the project will be made public via a white paper.
Mark Westwood, chief technology officer of the TSC, said: ‘There is industry-wide consensus that drone technology will be impactful, disrupting the remote sensing, infrastructure inspection, surveillance, emergency response, and transport and logistics sectors over the next decade.
‘To enable the UK to maintain a pre-eminent position in this space, there is a need for a focused initiative to generate a safe operating environment with reduced barriers-to-entry.’
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.
DroneSentry-X, a cross-vehicle compatible, automated 360° C-UAS detect and defeat device, can offer 360° awareness and protection using integrated sensors. According to its manufacturer, it is suitable for mobile operations, on-site surveillance and on-the-move missions.
Funded by the country’s former president, the new C-UAS systems will be sent to the frontline where they have already been tested against Russian invading forces.
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