Today, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and the NLR-Netherlands Aerospace Centre announced they have signed an agreement to open up operational approval for General Atomics Predator B to fly in nonsegregated European airspace. 



“NLR’s tremendous airspace and air traffic control modeling and simulation capabilities allow us to test and validate civil airspace integration concepts for medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems,” says Linden Blue, CEO of General Atomics. “NLR’s contribution to Predator B’s integrated detect-and-avoid system helps further international acceptance of MALE UAS flight in civil airspace worldwide.”



NRL has an air traffic control simulation facility and has been working on integration of unmanned aircraft for more than 15 years. 



“It’s a great opportunity for NLR to work together with GA-ASI on extending the existing European regulations on RPA usage in civilian airspace,” says Michel Peters, CEO of NLR. “The combination of GA-ASI’s extensive RPA [remotely piloted aircraft] knowledge and our certification and ATM [air traffic management] knowledge will be a guarantee for a successful project.”



Predator B is currently operational in segregated airspace in Europe. But a certified version of Predator B has been a General Atomics goal since it started a company-funded project in 2012 to produce a UAS that is compliant with NATO airworthiness standards. The first flight of a certifiable Predator B will occur later this year. 

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