The European DeSIRE (Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of RPAS in Europe ) project platform UAV, funded by the European S...
The European DeSIRE (Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of RPAS in Europe ) project platform UAV, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) intended to prove the feasibility of using satellite communications to enable unmanned air system operations in non-segregated airspace completed a successful 6 hour long flight in military and civilian airspace from the San Javier air base in Spain on 24 April.
In the presence of the Chief of Staff of Spanish AirForce, Francisco Javier GarcÃa-Arnaiz, the maritime version of IAI's Heron UAV-DeSIRE platform, took off from the San Javier runway at 11:00 a.m. The operation was timed to coincide with civil and military flights operating from the base, which shares its facilities with Murcia Airport.
After take-off, the aircraft switched from its Line of Sight (LOS) data link, to its satellite data link, capable to operate Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS), and started its operational mission in segregated airspace, sending to the ground, by means of the satellite data link, the signals from its on-board sensors.
The Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA) then climbed to 20,000 feet (6,096 m), entering airspace class C, managed by AENA, the Spanish Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), from Barcelona Control Centre. The pilot of the RPA, located at the Ground Control Station, followed all the indications issued by the AENA air traffic controllers, acting like any other civil or military aircraft. The difference is that the pilot was not on board and the radio communication with the control centre was transmitted from the aircraft to the operator via satellite.
During this phase of the flight, a manned aircraft from the Spanish Air Force Academy approached the RPA, simulating frontal and 90º collision trajectories. The pilots of the two aircraft followed the separation instructions issued by the air traffic controllers, demonstrating the safe operation of remotely piloted aircraft even in an emergency situation such as the separation of two aircraft on a collision course.
Throughout the exercise, the data of SACTA, AENA's air traffic control system based on secondary radars, was available to the pilot of the RPA in the Ground Control Station, enabling him to improve the situational awareness of nearby aircraft, with more details and precision than an on-board pilot would have. A radar located on board the RPA was also used to detect surrounding traffic and the data were transmitted to the pilot through the satellite link. The aim was to define and test the air traffic control and operation procedures applicable to a remotely piloted aircraft and to evaluate the safety of the satellite link and the reaction capacity of the aircraft's ground pilot, both in routine operation and in emergency situations.
During the flight, the payload data collected from the sensors on-board the aircraft (AIS receiver, radar and video) were transmitted in real-time to the Ground Control Station and further processed to enable ships’ detection and identification.
The test was conducted by Spanish consultancy and technology multinational Indra which leads a European industrial consortium formed by AT-One (Germany and the Netherlands), SES ASTRA (Luxembourg), Thales Alenia Space (Italy and France) and CIRA (Italy).
Israel's IAI-Malat, is collaborating with Indra in the demonstration campaign by providing and operating a Heron-I MALE RPAS with the required capabilities. Among those capabilities, the RPA payload includes a maritime patrol radar suitable for the proposed maritime surveillance mission as well as multimission optronic stabilized payload (MOSP) for day and night video surveillance.
