Project CLAIRE is a 24-month program aimed at demonstrating how remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) can operate safely within non-segregated airspace shared with manned aircraft. The project involves experiments and flight tests to establish regulations, operations, and technologies needed for RPAS integration. Initial findings from exercises show that normal RPAS operations had little impact on air traffic control and contingency plans worked well. However, lower performance RPAS had longer runway occupancy times and different speeds than manned aircraft posed more challenges. Project CLAIRE results will support developing European safety standards and regulations for integrated RPAS operations.

1. ALIAS Conference
1-2 October 2014 – Luc Lallouette
Project Claire

2. Project CLAIRE
 Integrated RPAS Demonstration Activities
 Demonstrate how to integrate RPAS into non-segregated airspace in a
multi-aircraft and manned flight environment
 Focus on filling the operational and technical gaps identified
 Provide synergies, risks and opportunities with the overall SESAR
programme
 Project CLAIRE
 Up to a 24-month programme aimed at demonstrating current RPAS
capabilities
 Key aim is to operate RPAS within a non-segregated mixed traffic
environment & demonstrate ATM procedures that need to be applied
within different classes of airspace
 Experiments, real-time demonstrations and potential real-world flight
trials
2 /

3. 3 / Key Objectives
 Key Objectives
 Establish the regulatory, operational and technical
infrastructure which enables UAS flight testing in a mixed
air traffic environment
 Demonstrate airport surface operations capability
including interaction with other traffic on the surface as
well as ground obstacles
 Demonstrate take-off and landing without impacting airport
throughput
 Quantify minimum performance requirements for
integration such as speed, climb/descent and turn
performance
 Incremental Approach to airspace access
 4 scenarios – increasing complexity
 Watchkeeper
● Seven year programme
● First UAS Certified Airworthiness Platform
• CS23, STANAG 4671 – High level of Safety airworthiness
● Number of flying hours: >1000

4. 4 / Initial Findings 1/3
Exercises 1a & 2 complete – Results
consistent
 Normal RPAS Operation:
 Unmanned Aircraft made little or no difference to ATM operations
 Control Station handovers
● Seamless, but RPAS pilots should ensure that handovers do not
coincide with sector handovers
● Should be as transparent as possible to the ATCO
 Speed differentials for some of modelled RPAS compared to
commercial aviation posed more of a challenge but well within ability
of ATCOs
 Long endurance RPAS could be held until a gap appeared in arriving
traffic
 R-T for normal operation was the same as manned aviation
 For lower performance RPAS, runway occupancy times were
regarded as too long
 Operational transponder essential

5. 5 / Initial Findings 2/3
 For Abnormal Events and Situations:
 Airport emergency procedures may need to be modified
 Increase in ATCO workload (consistent with manned aviation)
 Slow speed of RPAS was considered positive and negative
● Negative: Not consistent with the speeds of most manned aircraft
● Positive: Nothing happened quickly – time to react
 Flight of RPAS was considered more predictable than manned
aviation
 Backup communication between ATSU and RPAS Pilot worked well
● In manned aircraft, flight crew can be distracted and less predictable
 Handovers between sectors worked well

6. 6 / Initial Findings 3/3
 Contingency Planning and Management:
 Five types of information identified
● Lost Link routes
● Transition Points for Lost Link Routes
● Diversionary Sites
● Transition Points for Diversionary sites
● Significant Times associated with Lost Link Route
 How much information is shared with ATC
● In Advance
● During Flight
● Following an Unusual Event
 Need to agree phraseology

7. 7 / Regulatory Activities
 Project CLAIRE output will support the better understanding of the European
regulatory framework to assist in the integration of RPAS into non-segregated
airspace through
 The capture of safety related elements, in order to support to the development of safety
objectives for airworthiness (i.e. to mitigate the risk to persons on the ground)
 Feedback from flight demonstrations in non-segregated controlled airspace (classes A, B and
C) to RPAS flying under General Air Traffic (GAT)
 Understanding of Detect and Avoid conflict detection, resolution and monitoring functions to
cope with co-operative intruders (i.e. equipped with an ATC transponder)
 Preliminary exploitation of System Wide Information Management (SWIM) by RPAS, in
particular enabling controller-pilot data link communications via ground network
 Provision of data to support the EASA development of a dedicated certification specification
(CS-UAS) for RPAS