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2021-02-02

HENSOLDT Radar Sets Path for Collision Avoidance

The aviation sector has been witnessing unprecedented changes. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are increasingly integrating into airspace. The opportunities that technology related to unmanned aviation brings in for both civil and military operators are limitless. With soaring prospects, challenges rise too. This is where the role of collision avoidance radar system has assumed greater significance.

Challenges of Unmanned Flying

True airspace integration, which will facilitate the effective and safe operation of unmanned aircraft alongside manned aviation, involves issues ranging from regulatory to technical aspects.

Regulations need to allow UAS to fly in different types of airspace. They will have to demonstrate the same technical abilities as manned aircraft.

This includes important tasks such as an ability to communicate with air traffic control, as well as being able to manoeuvre in airspace as if a human pilot was onboard.

Sensor specialist HENSOLDT, a pioneer of technology and innovation for defence and security electronics, has been working on several of these technical requirements, in particular on the development of a sensor which generates the data necessary for safe avoidance procedures.

It is increasingly recognised that one of the most mission-critical requirements for the full integration of unmanned aircraft into the airspace to support both military and civil applications is the ability to avoid collisions with other aircraft in any given airspace.

“The whole area of integration of unmanned aircraft into controlled airspace, whether for military or civilian applications, is truly the topic of the future,” insists Dietmar Klarer, Technical Lead for detect-and-avoid at HENSOLDT.

Rule of Standardisation and Collision Avoidance

Standardisation of regulations and collision avoidance are mutually dependent: the former has to formulate the requirements for a detect-and-avoid system, whereas the technology has to be reliable enough for regulatory bodies to consider it equivalent to manned capabilities in detecting oncoming aircraft.

“Many standardisation efforts are underway to develop the technology necessary to turn flying in controlled airspace into reality. But it is not only a matter of performance and technical issues. There has to be a European standardisation that allows an unmanned aircraft to enter into controlled airspace,” Klarer added.

The U.S. has developed certification documents for this requirement.

The European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) is also working on standardisation in a number of working groups.

However, there is still some work to be done to set out the final regulations.

Project ‘Sense and Avoid – national’

In anticipation of these regulations, studies have been carried out to explore the technological requirements of sense and avoid systems. HENSOLDT has been pivotal with its involvement in both German and pan-European efforts.

The European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Mid-air Collision Avoidance System (MIDCAS) programme, for example, is the largest European study to date, which began in 2009 and has developed into a Standardisation Support Phase (SSP) carried out from 2017 to 2019.

Although a standardisation of regulations (the aim of the SSP project) was not developed by the end of the efforts – primarily due to the lack of test flights – this was a step in the right direction.Meanwhile, corresponding drafts have been developed.

Germany’s Project ‘Sense and Avoid – national’ (ProSA-n), began in 2015 and resulted in a radar sensor system demonstrator being developed by HENSOLDT to support all performance requirements for a sense and avoid radar.

Initial Test Flights

The project comprised a number of flight tests carried out in cooperation with Diehl and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The tests started in 2018 and were successfully completed in 2019. The results of the flight tests confirmed the HENSOLDT detect-and-avoid Concept.

As a next step, the first flight test with the system actually controlling the flight management will be carried out as part of an aviation research programme supported by the German Ministry of Economics and Energy.

The two initial test flights were conducted as part of the Ministry of Defence’s funding of the ProSA-n programme. While there is still an urgent need for a sense and avoid system for defence applications, Germany’s Ministry of Economics and Energy is now overseeing the project, which it has transferred into a civil aviation research programme.
“At the beginning of our research programme it was already clear that there would be both military and civil applications,” Klarer affirmed.

Civil efforts identified for sense and avoid technologies include air taxis, cargo UAVs, and single-pilot civil aircraft configurations in which such a sensor system can assist carrying out situational awareness work that would normally be performed by a co-pilot.

HENSOLDT’s test system includes a radar system in the nose of the aircraft as well as a large test rig in the cabin. The flights include collision risks from ‘intruder aircraft’ that are flying in circles to test the radar.

This helps building a comprehensive database of collision scenarios, checking the system and the system performance, besides collecting data to use in simulations since it is not possible to cover all scenarios in flight tests.

European MALE Programme

One of the most exciting projects for Europe and HENSOLDT in unmanned aviation is the ongoing pan-continent European medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) programme.

Initially involving Germany, Italy, France and Spain, the programme will result in the development of a MALE UAV indigenous to Europe, and will require a detect-and-avoid capability.

Although HENSOLDT is one of many companies involved in the European MALE programme and could contribute to this element, it is worth mentioning that Germany is a pioneer in the area of detect-and-avoid systems for unmanned aircraft.

Klarer explained: “This part of European MALE is mainly driven by the German Ministry of Defence, and I think we are also the only programme which has built a radar demonstrator with the performance required for a detect-and-avoid system of class HALE/MALE UAVs in Europe.”

HENSOLDT has developed a detect-and-avoid system for large UAVs, based on its years of research, and anticipates that a system for this purpose would include two antenna arrays covering a large arched horizontal field of view.

It will use active electronically scanned array technology that can be packaged into the nose of the UAV, which can also double up as a weather radar.

Following an award of the contract for the European MALE aircraft, follow-up contracts for systems including the collision avoidance are expected. Until an award decision has been made, HENSOLDT will continue to develop its detect-and-avoid offerings.

Klarer summed up: “HENSOLDT is well positioned to take a leading role in the development of this specific mission-critical segment, and we are excited about helping facilitate the further opening up of the skies to the potential that unmanned aviation can bring to both the military and civil markets.”

HENSOLDT is exhibiting at stand 08-D38

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