Thales and QUT in joint UAV program

Thales Australia has commissioned the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA) at Queensland University of Technology to advance Australian research into the implications for air traffic management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in non-segregated civil airspace.

Thales CEO Chris Jenkins said as a leader in UAV research ARCAA was ideally suited to undertake the study, adding that while UAVs were yet to enter civil airspace on a routine basis, they would become more prevalent.

“UAVs are moving at a rapid pace beyond the military sphere into the realm of governments and the private sector (and) their use will grow in the future, and air traffic management systems need to be ready to cater for them.”

ARCAA Director Professor Duncan Campbell said: “We will undertake a scoping study to identify the key challenges associated with the routine operation of UAVs within the Australian airspace management system including collaboration with the Wackett Aerospace Research Centre at RMIT University.”

“We will identify existing UAV airspace integration work being conducted elsewhere in the world including projects being conducted by Thales and pin-point any operational concepts specific to operating UAVs in Australia’s distinctive environment.

Professor Campbell said ARCAA was well advanced on research to address key hurdles to UAVs’ ability to fly in civil airspace. “We are working on projects to enable UAVs to detect and avoid other craft and to automatically land safely in an emergency.

“Overcoming these technical hurdles will allow us to move one step closer to a fully integrated airspace where UAVs will be able to be utilised for many new civilian applications.”