Uncrewed Aircraft System for Flight and Ground Inspection of Aviation Navigation Aids

Small unmanned or uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) have been developed into valuable instruments for various applications. These for instance include remote sensing, agriculture, logistics, infrastructure inspection, or emergency relief and disaster management. It has been established in various publications, that small, uncrewed aircraft systems can constitute an effective tool to support conventional crewed flight and ground inspection operations. For this, UAS can be used to measure and evaluate radio signals from aviation radio navigation aids or to inspect runway lighting and visual landing aids like PAPI installations with optical sensors.

The institution represented by the author has developed an uncrewed aircraft system to support the flight and ground inspection of aviation navigation aids. In order to allow for a versatile application of the UAS in flight inspection, the payload can be flexibly modified according to the signal under inspection. Typical payloads consist of receivers and antennas for the measurement of instrument landing system (ILS) localizer and glide slope signals, or cameras for the inspection and calibration of visual landing aids.

This presentation presents technical considerations and scenarios for the application of small, uncrewed aircraft systems in flight and ground inspection tasks. A small, uncrewed flight inspection aircraft system for calibrating signals of ILS and VOR installations is introduced and flight results are presented and discussed. For this, the uncrewed measurement results are compared to conventional, crewed flight inspection results.

Industry’s view on current priorities in drone regulation

EU drone regulation has come a long way and is a true success story. It places Europe at the forefront
of creating the full set of rules necessary for a full-fledged safe and efficient drone market. At the same
time, the work isn’t done yet. There still remain clearly identifiable challenges and a priority list of
what the EU needs to regulate in the near future. Among those are the set of AMC/GMs for U-space
and standardisation issues.
The panel will discuss those challenges and priorities also in the context of the currently ongoing SESAR
ATM Master Plan Review.

Saab Digital Sky – advancing the integration

This session will explore the continuous evolution of the Saab Digital Sky and how various solutions becomes more and more integrated. This includes a presentation of the Saab i-DTS or integrated Digital Tower Suite, the stepwise introduction of AI and the cross over to airport operations and much more.

Money flows where focus goes. Strategic and financial insights for UTM ecosystem success. Presenting insights from the PwC’s Global Report on UTM.

Exclusive look into the PwC’s Global Report on Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), presented by the PwC Drone Powered Solutions – Global Center of Excellence in Drone and Satellite Technologies. This essential guide for UTM stakeholders, including policymakers, regulators, and service providers, delves into market growth challenges and solutions. Key discussions include the UTM governance, financial strategies, and development paradox.

How LDACS can drive the digital transformation of air traffic management

As enabler for significant improvements of overall operational efficiency, the digital transformation of ATM is the foundation for sustainable growth in aviation. In this evolution, air-ground connectivity represents a significant bottleneck that can be resolved by using secure and reliable high-rate datalinks as described in the European ATM Master Plan.
LDACS is a high-throughput terrestrial datalink operating in the L-band and is an essential pillar for deploying the multilink architecture of the future safety-critical data communication to the aircraft. With its scalable, distributed and fully open technology, LDACS meets the operational safety requirements for ATM and ensures flexibility, security and global interoperability.
As the maturity of LDACS technology is progressing to advanced stages, representatives from ANSPs, Airlines, Service Providers and Industry will highlight the benefits of the LDACS datalink and discuss the next steps for the implementation in operational ATM systems.

SESAR Walking Tour: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR A DIGITAL EUROPEAN SKY

Europe’s skies are complex and regularly congested. SESAR partners are looking at a portfolio of intelligent solutions that can bring capacity to the airspace in the right place and the right time. This tour will put a spotlight on how SESAR solutions are innovating airspace utilisation, allowing conventional aircraft to share the airspace with many other types of air vehicles. The scope covers a breathtaking spectrum of airspace users from drones and air taxis in U-space and over cities, through airliners in conventional airspace, up to the higher airspace, where supersonic aircraft will fly amongst balloons in the stratosphere, while commercial space operations enter and return from the edges of outer space.

Showcases included in this Walking Tour are:

• SAFIR-Ready – Enabling Mission Ready drone services, Mikael Shamim, Helicus
• U-space examples in the Port of Antwerp, Jürgen Verstaen, Unifly
• Making space for higher airspace operations, Sven Kaltenhaeuser, DLR
• ENAV Free Route Cross Border implementation, Paolo Nasetti, ENAV

Please note that registration to the tours is not necessary, participation will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Early check-in is advised to avoid disappointment.

SESAR Walking Tour: VIRTUALISATION AND CYBER-SECURE DATA SHARING

In the future, service provision will be decoupled from the physical infrastructure, enabling air traffic and data service providers, irrespective of national borders, to plug in their operations where needed in a secure manner. In doing so, air traffic service units will be able improve capacity in portions of airspace where traffic demand exceeds the available capacity and offer contingency options. This tour will present progress on the virtual centre concept and delegation of service provision with demonstrations of some of the enabling technologies and underlying architectures.

Showcases included in this Walking Tour are:

• Inside the virtual centre triangle, Julián Chaves Cáceres, Indra
• Delegation of ATM services provision among ATSUs & virtual centre, Maarten van der Lee, Frequentis
• Making controller rostering more flexible, Michael Finke, DLR
  -iSNAP (iTEC SkyNex ATC Platform), Mayte Cano Rincón, Indra

Please note that registration to the tours is not necessary, participation will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Early check-in is advised to avoid disappointment.

SESAR Walking Tour: U-SPACE

A sector quick to embrace digital technology is the unmanned aviation market where new entrants already offer emergency and medical services as well as inspection, survey and parcel deliveries. Since 2016, SESAR JU has carried out extensive validation and flight trials in urban and non-urban environments helped to shape U-space services and concept definition by delivering deployable solutions to help scale up this sector. So what is next for U-space and innovative air mobility (IAM)? Join this tour to find out!

Showcases included in this Walking Tour are:

• Curtains up for innovative air mobility, Jolana Dvorska and Jiri Ilcik, Honeywell
• Managing safe separation, Pablo Sanchez Escalonilla, ENAIRE
• Pioneering vertiports, Iliyana Simeonova, EUROCONTROL
• Welcoming a new era of urban air mobility, Patricia Hervías, EUROCONTROL, Giovanni Riccardi, ENAV and Daniel Garcia -Monteavaro, ENAIRE
• Creating an unmanned flight ecosystem, Javier Camacho Font, Collins
• Gearing up for U-space implementation, Luc Antoon& Simon Devoldere, skeyes, Hendrik-Jan VAN DER GUCHT, SkeyDrone

Please note that registration to the tours is not necessary, participation will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Early check-in is advised to avoid disappointment.

SESAR Walking Tour: REMOTE TOWERS

Significant advances have been made in remote tower technology since the concept first became an implemented reality in 2014. What started as a concept to make small and regional airports more viable has extended into new and sometimes unexpected directions, transitioning into a family of solutions and blending other technologies such as virtual or augmented reality. This tour will look back at some of the solutions delivered so far and where next for this ground-breaking technology.

Showcases included in this Walking Tour are:

• May virtual tower operations become real? Jörn Jakobi, DLR, Julia Schön, DLR
• Remote digital towers – a success story, Eric Wernsperger, Frequentis
• TRUSTworthy AI for remote digital towers, Christophe Hurter, ENAC
• ENAV RT solution from R&D to Deployment, Francesco Nacchia, Rino Bellapadrona and Lorenzo Tavernise ENAV

Please note that registration to the tours is not necessary, participation will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Early check-in is advised to avoid disappointment.

SESAR Walking Tour: U-SPACE/AIRSPACE RECONFIGURATION

As the use cases for drones and remotely-piloted aircraft systems gain ground, there is a growing need for airspace reconfiguration to accommodate these new entrants safely and efficiently. This tour will take a look at some the technological advancements and necessary changes to operational procedures to ensure a harmonious coexistence between manned and unmanned aircraft.

Showcases included in this Walking Tour are:

• Unlocking the potential of RPAS, Mario Boyero-Perez, EUROCONTROL
• Marking a new “aura” in air mobility,Roman Stickler, Frequentis
• 360-degree on ATM and U-space interoperability, Marta García Gutiérrez, Indra
• Dynamic airspace reconfiguration at your service! (I), Pablo Sánchez-Escalonilla, ENAIRE
• Dynamic airspace reconfiguration at your service! (II)
  Gianluca Marrazzo, Leonardo

Please note that registration to the tours is not necessary, participation will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Early check-in is advised to avoid disappointment.