Testing, research aims to make UAS flight safer, enhance air-traffic management
NewsMay 09, 2018
AURORA, Colo. Raytheon will act as a key partner in the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance's project to develop the first and most advanced unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-testing airspace corridor in the U.S. in New York state.
According to corporate materials, Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services business will help plan, design, build, and support New York's next-generation air-traffic management system to safely test and manage drones.
The newly designated testing corridor will extend 50 miles west from Griffiss International Airport (near Rome, New York), one of only seven Federal Aviation Administration-approved UAS test sites in the U.S. The reserved airspace will enable companies to test both drones and air-traffic management technologies in real-life settings, generating valuable data that will inform industry and regulators and ultimately advance the commercial use of drones.
Raytheon's low-power radar (LPR) offerings include a small, one-meter-square Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) software-defined radar unit that could be networked together to provide coverage and control for UASs, which is impossible with the large radar systems currently in use.
