Predator Flight Test Validates UAS Integration Concept

By Brett Davis

A GA-ASI Predator B, which flew successfully in December with the company's Due Regard radar. Photo courtesy GA-ASI.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems says it successfully flight tested a prototype of its Due Regard radar in December, where it detected a company King Air aircraft in the vicinity and successfully tracked it, along with other aircraft nearby.



Due Regard is a self-funded program that is part of GA-ASI's airborne sense-and-avoid architecture for the Predator B unmanned aircraft.



“Detecting airborne vehicles not equipped with transponders will be key to safely integrating RPA into the National Airspace System,” says Frank W. Pace, president of the company's  Aircraft Systems Group. “The prototype Due Regard radar is a critical component of GA-ASI’s sense-and-avoid system, facilitating collision avoidance on board the aircraft and allowing the pilot to separate the RPA from other air traffic in cooperation with air traffic control.”



The radar was installed on a company-owned Predator B and was controlled from GA-ASI's Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.



Actively Electronically Scanned Array technology allowed the radar to track multiple targets while continuously scanning the area for potential conflicts. Aircraft tracks were downlinked to the GCS via satellite and displayed in real-time, and were correlated and validated with a radar feed from air traffic control. 



“GA-ASI is excited to be advancing sense-and-avoid technology, not only in developing new systems, but also in helping define standards and working with our industry partners,” says Linden Blue, president of GA-ASI's Reconnaissance Systems Group.



Flight tests will of the radar will continue on both RPA and manned aircraft during 2013. The company says Due Regard and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast systems will be part of the first airborne sense-and-avoid architecture for the Predator B. The company tested ADS-B on a Customs and Border Protection Guardian aircraft last year.