Thu, Oct 06, 2011
Patented Program Helps Unmanned Aircraft Systems Avoid Hazards
That Cost Millions In Damaged Planes
A
radar technology that will provide both military and civil air
traffic controllers with the capability to avoid airborne hazards
around unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) has been developed and
patented by Raytheon.
Under the Ground Based Sense and Avoid (GBSAA) initiatives with
the U.S. Air Force to repurpose existing National Airspace System
(NAS)-certified radars, UAS operators and controllers will have
more information to help them make safer decisions. Since current
ATC radars can only see airspace in two dimensions -- latitude and
longitude -- UAS operators and controllers must assume that any
hazard detected also resides on the same altitude.
"Traditional air traffic control radars have only been able to
see in two dimensions since the 1950s," said Mike Prout, vice
president for Raytheon Network Centric Systems' Security and
Transportation Systems. "Our comprehensive technology provides one
more dimension that gives UAS operators and controllers what they
need to get the mission done."
Currently UAS operators have to avoid any potential hazard in
the airspace, even those that may be far from the UAS in altitude.
With the ATC radars repurposed through a software enhancement to
detect altitude, the install-base of ATC radars will be able to
detect all hazards in the NAS and provide the altitude resolution
information needed by controllers and UAS operators to safely and
efficiently direct the UAS.
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