Air Force, Raytheon Put Sense and Avoid to the Test

By Danielle Lucey



The U.S. Air Force and Raytheon Co. have conducted concept evaluation demonstrations, exhibiting that existing air traffic equipment could be modified to include ground-based sense and avoid to track the presence of UAS. 



The pair recently completed the testing near Edwards Air Force Base at Gray Butte Airfield using a moving “dynamic protection zone,” a collision avoidance alert system. This zone creates a series of alerts sent to the UAS pilot as an object approaches his system, to avoid near mid-air collisions. 



They used a sense and avoid system based on the Airport Surveillance Radar Model-11 and a repurposed Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System for air traffic control. Using these two items reduces the need for new infrastructure to integrate a sense and avoid system. 



“Our solution provides the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense with a cost-effective and safe approach to handle the thousands of unmanned aerial systems that'll be flying in our airspace in the next few years,” says Joseph Paone, director of Air Traffic Management for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business. “Our system properly notifies controllers and pilots of intrusions and accurately shows aircraft altitude, which is important in keeping commercial aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and other hazards safely separated.”