Darren is BAE Systems’ technical manager for ASTRAEA II programme. As technical manager, his key objective is to ensure the technical programme supports the long term company aims of achieving routine flight of UAVs in non-segregated airspace. Darren has been involved in ASTRAEA since the start of the programme in 2006 and has previously led work on ‘adaptive routing’ and ‘sense and avoid’ technology.
“We did an integrated synthetic environment demonstration at the close of ASTRAEA I,” Darren recalled, “and we are aiming to do that for real, in our surrogate UAV platform, before the end of ASTRAEA II.”
BAE Systems are using their Jetstream Flying Testbed to flight test their prototype systems. The Jetstream 31 aircraft is configured as a surrogate UAV - it has two pilots on board who hand over control to the prototype avionic systems during the test flights. Darren said the first round of flight trials started in March 2011 where some sensor technologies were tested. Further trials in 2011 will evaluate a prototype sense & avoid system, forced landing system, communication system, several new sensors and autonomous decision-making software.
There are wider aspects of the ASTRAEA programme besides technology – the CAA (Civil Aviation Administration) is working with the ASTRAEA II partners on a new process called Virtual Certification (VC). VC will establish a sound basis for the certification of UAVs in the UK. The programme is also helping to strengthen the supply chain for UAV technology by organising briefings and engagement events with small and medium sized companies.
Darren pointed out another aspect of the ASTRAEA programme that is no secret to consortium members – they work well together. Despite the year break between phase I and II, the partners managed to re-assemble their teams and get back to work with the old collaborative work ethic still in place.
And the future?
“ASTRAEA II is helping to position UK industry to exploit the considerable civil market opportunities that exist once UAVs have access to non-segregated airspace. By the end of the programme, we expect to have de-risked the major areas of technology and have established a route for certification of these technologies. We will be pushing the prototype systems and knowledge learned into our UAV development projects so that they can ultimately access airspace in the UK. I think it will be achieved through a staged access to airspace over the next ten years or so” Darren said.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is a global defence and security company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and support services. In 2010, BAE Systems reported sales of £22.4 billion (US$ 34.6 billion).
It’s the second largest global defence company, based on 2009 revenues, with approximately 100,000 employees worldwide. It has customers in more than 100 countries.
