Rockwell Collins inches toward UAS BLOS

11th July 2016 - 10:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Rockwell Collins and the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL) have used the company's UAS integrated avionics solution to successfully control a UAS, the company announced on 7 July.

The test flight is a milestone toward the successful operation of UAS beyond an operator’s visual line of sight in the National Airspace System (NAS).

The flight was carried out using the OPL's Ferox UAS integrated with the avionics solution comprising Rockwell Collins’ Athena UAS avionics; a ground control station based on the company’s Pro Line Fusion; and a command and control network that utilises Rockwell Collins’ CNPC-1000 C2 data link.

Rockwell Collins is planning its second UAS test flight in the coming weeks, extending the range of safe operations beyond line of sight. Its end-to-end integrated UAS avionics solution can be scaled for large or small aircraft.

John Borghese, vice president, Advanced Technology Center for Rockwell Collins, said: ‘A number of industries are very eager to use commercial UAS to make their operations much more efficient, especially those that need to monitor and inspect critical infrastructure such as railroads, pipelines and powerlines. In order to do that beyond line of sight in the NAS, safe and secure avionics must be implemented. We have now proven that it can be done and we are one step closer to making it a reality for this market.’

Athena 111m