These Guidelines aim to cover different objectives: reducing the time required to plan MALE RPAS operations; enhancing civil – military coordination with standard procedures;  harmonizing procedures for cross border operations; decreasing the segregated airspace volume to the minimum by enabling en-route flight in non-segregated airspace; maintaining overall safety and ATM performance while increasing RPAS operations and sharing military expertise and best practices with EASA. Looking forward a few more years, one research team in the Netherlands warns that small RPAS still deserve very close attention to “how risk control is distributed between the pilot and the automated functions of drones.” The researchers see this as an RPAS version of performance-based classification of manned-aircraft capabilities. They also encourage airline pilots and air traffic controllers to respect and to regard every RPAS pilot-in-command as a fellow professional who influences the overall safety of the national airspace system. The system is designed in accordance with NATO STANAG 4671 and is undergoing military type certification. This differentiation — aircraft weight of “below 150 kg” versus aircraft weight of “150 kg or more” — serves to distinguish between the regulatory competence (i.e., jurisdiction) of a national aviation authority (NAA) versus that of EASA regulatory competence. EASA, EUROCONTROL) are invited to provide feedback on their Airworthiness Activities for the RPAS/UAS and reciprocally, ARF experts participate to the consultations organised by those bodies. (x) ICAO Circular 328-AN/190 Instrument flight time*. At present there is the risk that Europe could become dependent on third country suppliers for such technologies. The Safe Autonomous Flight Termination project will assess, develop and validate a proof of concept of autonomous functionality to ensure a predictable yet adaptative Remotely Piloted Aircraft behaviour in case of emergency involving multiple failures, including C2 datalink loss leading to a Flight Termination. EUROCONTROL also has found that harmonising state regulations to cover the full range of RPAS-aircraft sizes initially appeared to highly desirable, but the current arbitrary split among categories is based on RPAS-aircraft weight. The remote pilot-in-command (PIC) and the person manipulating the controls of the small RA must operate with a direct visual line of sight (VLOS) to the small RA; alternatively, the small RA must remain within the VLOS of the PIC’s designated visual observer. The market ranges from small tactical mini and micro aircraft to large sophisticated systems. Experts attribute growing acceptance to pilot certificates (licences) reflecting prescribed training, privileges and limitations — and to progress in building a robust RPAS safety culture. Significant time and cost savings, as well as harmonised safety requirements, can be expected from a common approach to airworthiness and achieving certification. This page was last edited on 29 April 2020, at 06:04. Priorities change over time among these stakeholders. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) delivered the final two MQ-9A Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and a Ground Control Station (GCS) to the Spanish Air Force (SpAF) on Nov. 23, 2020, completing a Foreign Military … 2.0 MICRO REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (mRPAS) LESS THAN 250 G Micro remotely piloted aircraft systems (mRPAS) are made up of a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) weighing less than 250g and its control station. “Transport Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program is an essential piece of the Government of Canada’s efforts to keep Canada’s coasts and inland waters safe and clean,” … Through this objective and in conjunction with the related MAWA – for Airworthiness - and ESMAB – for ATM aspects - work strands, the progressive introduction of a Total System Approach to Military Aviation will be further investigated. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) have demonstrated their importance in recent military operations, particularly for surveillance and information gathering. Several other countries began adopting this qualification system in 2015. RPAS automation is a key enabler for the integration of RPAS in non-segregated airspace, particularly to ensure the operation safety levels in degraded or emergency modes. MIDCAS SSP was its continuation with a focus on supporting and progressing standardization, mainly in EUROCAE. Extensive ground checks were performed on all remotely piloted systems; however, piloted flight tests were the primary method of verification and validation of control law concepts developed from simulation. The flight control may be a radio transmitter or a more complex … A person, organization or enterprise engaged in or offering to engage in an aircraft operation. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Squadron Operations Facilities will consist of, but are not limited to grouped rooms or “Modules”. If you wish to contribute or participate in the discussions about articles you are invited to join SKYbrary as a registered user. Whether the mission of the RPAS operator involves certain classifications of flights — Military/government, commercial, leisure/recreational and hobby purposes each have unique risk profiles. GA-ASI has developed a variant of the Predator ® B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) series that meets NATO standards (STANAG-4671), and in cooperation with the FAA, will subsequently meet airworthiness certification standards domestically and around the world. UAS can either require a human pilot on the ground (such as the Atlas Pro) or be fully autonomous without need for a human operator (such as the Percepto Solution). 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. This knowledge document serves as the ground training and examination guide for pilots of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). MIDCAS SSP has generated substantial progress: the experience and knowledge gained by the people involved in MIDCAS is a unique resource available for continued European efforts in this field. Report on the progress of the coordination mechanism to the senior management level is done on a yearly basis for the necessary steering and monitoring, also with the objective to promote synergies between these bodies and with other European organisations. © 2021 European Defence Agency Information on this is subject to Legal Notices - Privacy Policy - Cookies Policy, Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), Factsheet on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, Standardisation of Remote Pilot Stations of RPA, Commission recommendation on the harmonisation of the scope of and conditions for general transfer licences for the purposes of repair and maintenance, Integration of military RPAS in non-segregated airspace in the context of the Single European Sky (for more information, please consult the, Development of synergies among Member States operating large military RPAS, Support to the development of a European medium-altitude long endurance (MALE) RPAS to be operational by 2025. Small RPAs (small UAs) in the United States as of March 2019 must weigh less than 55 pounds (25 kilogrammes), operate to a maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground level (AGL) and fly at maximum ground speeds of 100 miles per hour (87 knots). It leverages both the Predator B RPA and Certifiable Ground Control Station (CGCS) as points-of-departure systems … Training organisations approved by the U.K. CAA issue these documents and countries outside the United Kingdom adopted the same certification system in the absence of their own comparable alternative. The project’s main objective was to support standardisation of the Remote Pilot Station to be used in EASA's certified operations category, with a focus on certification and Air Traffic Integration requirements. A follow-on project with ESA, DeSIRE2, was launched in 2014 and aimed at developing and demonstrating services based on a Remotely Piloted Aircraft flying in Beyond Radio Line of Sight (BRLOS). The stakeholders primarily comprise the world’s national aviation authorities (NAAs, including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)); air navigation service providers (ANSPs, including EUROCONTROL); airlines; RPAS manufacturers and suppliers; and small RPAS operators. The act of passing piloting control from one remote pilot station to another. A fully operational system consists of several sensor/weapon-equipped aircraft, ground control station, Predator Primary Satellite Link, and spare equipment along with operation and maintenance crews for … It is in accordance with the amendments to the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) for sRPAS operations that … All now share accountability for operating and maintaining registered RPA, for flying strictly according to the regulatory regime and applying official safety guidance. The focus shall be set both on the Airspace risks and on the Ground risks aspects. Such frameworks enable, for example, data that identifying failures and accident precursors in routine flight operations. In the framework of the Coordination Mechanism, and more broadly in the framework of Single European Sky, EDA and SJU staff have established a close coordination. The coordination activities aiming to ensure an efficient cooperation with the European Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU); The Regulatory activities, closely linked to the Military Air Worthiness Authorities Forum (MAWA) and to the EDA Single European Sky Military Aviation Board (ESMAB), through its SEC RPAS ATI (SES Expert Community on RPAS ATI), aiming to contribute to fil the gaps regarding the regulation for Large/Certified RPAS; The RPAS ATI R&D projects and the Industry Exchange Platform aiming to develop the key technical enablers for RPAS Air Traffic Integration. In practical terms, a small RPAS can be visualized as having these configurable elements and characteristics: Below are links to other glossaries and explanations of terms related to RPAS: Current civilian applications of small RPAS have antecedents in government-operated and military-operated aircraft from the early 1990s — then popularly called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones and other names. In addition to the three main workstrands related to RPAS ATI (coordination, regulatory and R&D), EDA also liaises with other organisations concerning other activities. Authors’ Note This document has been prepared for NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project. The simulators have been deployed at nine sites across Europe from November 2017 and will facilitate an ongoing exercise programme to be jointly organised with the Member States, EDA and the European Air Group (EAG). (001) The MQ-1 aircraft is piloted using hand and foot controls and a computer software menu system from the ground control station using pilot sensor operator workstations. The original MIDCAS project started in September 2009 and was completed in 2015. The project objective is to increase the effectiveness, responsiveness, cost efficiency and safety of military aviation. Meanwhile, in the European Union, the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) received European Commission approval of proposed changes to safety regulatory oversight of RPAS and airworthiness of RAs. The data link between the remotely piloted aircraft and the remote pilot station for the purposes of managing the flight. The data link between the remotely piloted aircraft and the remote pilot station for the purposes of managing the flight. Three Types of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Low level beyond-line-of sight All classes of civil … It may be in direct radio line-of-sight (RLOS) or beyond radio line-of-sight (BRLOS). Any UAS includes a UAV as the aircraft … A primary difference was the ground control station as the aircraft’s cockpit. A drone or remotely piloted aircraft is controlled wirelessly mainly from the ground. The loss of command and control link contact with the remotely-piloted aircraft such that the remote pilot can no longer manage the aircraft’s flight. Time during which a pilot is piloting an aircraft solely by reference to instruments and without external reference points. This is also aligned with the timeline set forth in the SESAR ATM Master Plan. Their stated purpose was to inform subject matter experts’ perspectives of the global state of RPAS risk management and to benefit NAAs and other stakeholders. … This is challenging for sUAS operations due to insufficient mishap (accident and incident) reporting for sUAS and the rapid growth of new sUAS applications (or use cases) that have not yet been implemented.”. The Predator is part of a remotely piloted aircraft system. At another extreme, NAAs can oversimplify their rules based on the intended use of RPAS or on the classification of an RPAS operator, pending NAA officials’ completion of a comprehensive risk-based approach. The Coordination Mechanism is a technical agreement between the Commission, EASA, SJU and EDA to promote an effective civil-military coordination and cooperation to progress smoothly in the integration of drones, notably, the certified operations category, into non-segregated airspace. Ground Control Systems Improve real-time fleet operation through centralized command and control of advanced UAS missions. To grant an authorization, ATC requires full compliance with Part 107 rules. Typical system configuration includes a Ground Control Station (GCS) connected to a Ground Data Terminal (GDT), a Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and two Aircraft. Currently, 35 states, including several non-European states such as China, the Russian Federation and the United States, are involved in JARUS initiatives. This will be done through two “pilot cases” on transport fleet and large/certified military RPAS, by harmonising relevant national military aviation safety requirements in the operational domain through the establishment of a cooperation framework for national Military Air Operators Safety Authorities. Therefore, improving safety performance of larger RPAS temporarily may receive lower priority among these stakeholders. 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