Rockwell Collins UAS eBook

Five steps to facilitating the convergence
of manned and unmanned aviation

Learn what is happening
in the industry today to make
the coexistence of UAVs
and manned aviation
in commercial airspace a reality.

David Vos, Ph.D.
Senior Director Control Technologies, Rockwell Collins

© Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Defining future airspace
Many in the aerospace industry believe there are more questions than answers related
to mixing UAVs and manned aircraft in commercial airspace
How do we improve safety and reliability of communications, controls, sensors,
engines and networking to enable the coexistence of UAVs and manned aircraft
in commercial airspace?

What are the pros and cons of UAVs and manned aviation flying together in
commercial airspace?

Who in industry and government is doing what tests, demonstrations and pilots today?

What are the critical technologies needed to make UAVs as reliable, or better yet,
more reliable than manned aircraft?

What role does NextGen Air Traffic Management play in facilitating the convergence
of UAVs and manned aviation?

What is happening at the regulatory agency level today to facilitate merged
airspace operations?

In this e-book, you will learn about what is happening today, what can happen tomorrow
and everything else you need to know about facilitating the convergence of manned
and unmanned, military and civilian aircraft into one coordinated air traffic
management system.

Feel free to pass this e-book along to your colleagues in the industry.

1

Unlocking the potential of UAVs in commercial airspace

Integrating UAVs into commercial airspace is an initiative we have been advocating for many years.
There are just too many benefits not to be on the leading edge of these emerging capabilities. Similar
to the Internet which grew out of use by the military, then proliferated once civilian use and demand started,
we expect the same to happen with UAVs.

There is a lot happening in the industry today and progress is being made with technology demonstrations and
real time operations. We wanted to aggregate some examples and share with you the latest in this global initiative
with Rockwell Collins’ e-book: Five Steps to Facilitating the Convergence of Manned and Unmanned Aviation.

What does it take to make integrated airspace happen? At the most fundamental level, it takes the successful
design, demonstration and implementation of greater levels of automation, redundancy, interoperability and safety
into the critical avionics and mechanical subsystems of both UAVs and manned aircraft.

We are very close. Enabling technologies such as Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), due regard
radar, automatic flight and engine control, navigation, damage tolerance, RNP and others, tied into the NextGen
Air Traffic Management system, are being approved and certified at a rapid pace. The acceptance of these new
technologies is complemented by their availability in small, lightweight form factors and at the required low
acquisition and implementation price points. Availability, approvals and affordability all come together to
facilitate this convergence.

Now that much of the technology is in place or, at least available, the next step is working with key regulatory
agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and EUROCONTROL to determine and implement
the standards and certifications needed for UAVs to coexist with manned aircraft for their reliability to meet
and exceed manned aircraft.

At Rockwell Collins, our UAV solutions are already performing well on the major UAV production programs
including Watchkeeper, Shadow, and Sky Warrior. We are now taking our solutions through the certification
process to ensure compliance with existing standards, while we continue to develop the next generation
capabilities to bring to fruition the true benefits of integrated airspace.

David Vos, Ph.D.
Senior Director Control Technologies, Rockwell Collins
2

Five steps to integrated airspace

Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the convergence
of manned and unmanned aviation

Step 2 Develop and engage automated air traffic management solutions:
controls, navigation, communications, sensors, networking and more

Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests and evaluations underway by
industry and government

Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by agencies such as the FAA and
EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air traffic management

Step 5 Change embedded culture and imagine the possibilities

3

Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the convergence of manned
and unmanned aviation

While today’s UAVs bring an unquestioned list of capabilities to a growing variety of surveillance and
proactive situations, their array of uses is still limited by the need to safely migrate their operation
with that of manned military and commercial aircraft.

4

Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the convergence
of manned and unmanned aviation continued....

Fortunately a number of technological advancements have been made in avionics and navigation capabilities to
help create solutions that facilitate the safe and effective integration of UAVs into the next generation airspace.
This migration will rely heavily on automatic air traffic management systems like ADS-B, which provides for the
automated notification of an aircraft’s position to ground-based controllers, as well as to other manned and
unmanned aircraft. The cost-effective availability and strategic implementation of these advanced avionics, navigation
and communications capabilities will help demonstrate the extremely high level of precision, reliability and safety
required for UAVs to technologically and culturally coexist, waiver free, with manned aircraft in common airspace.

Rockwell Collins is the recognized industry leader in the development of new hardware and software
systems that can enable many of the capabilities needed to facilitate airspace integration. We are
introducing and demonstrating new technologies that contribute to the improved performance
of UAV, while optimizing the interaction and communications between UAV, ground operators and ATC.

5

Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable
Next Generation Air Traffic Management

At Rockwell Collins, we are embracing automated air traffic management from all perspectives,
providing the advanced capabilities needed to improve aircraft reliability and enable manned,
unmanned, military and civil aircraft to coexist more efficiently and safely in common airspace.

6

Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....

Flight Control, Navigation and Redundancy
To help maximize capabilities while controlling acquisition and operational costs, Rockwell Collins provides the
Athena family of INS/GPS/ADAHRS and autopilot/flight control systems in a variety of integrated, miniaturized
and affordable packages. Dual-triplex-and quad-redundant avionics for both UAVs and manned aircraft, critical
to safe and reliable integrated airspace operations, are available today from Rockwell Collins.
See Shadow Video: http://www.rockwellcollins.com/athena/demos/shadow/index.asp

Auto-Takeoff and Landing
To take full advantage of all of the capabilities offered by emerging UAVs, they must be able to operate in a totally
autonomous mode. Rockwell Collins’ proven automatic flight control systems provide full-mission pilotless
capabilities with unsurpassed accuracy and reliability. Today this technology is available for all types of
manned and unmanned aircraft, from a commercial airliner all the way down to the smallest civilian
aircraft or tactical UAV. See video of a UAV auto-takeoff and landing with Athena flight controls.
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/athena/demos/alenia/ A U.S. congressional
report found that
current air traffic
Structural Damage/Fault Tolerance delays and congestion
In emergency situations caused by pilot incapacitation or structural damage to the aircraft, cost the national economy
Rockwell Collins’ advanced adaptive flight controls can enable an aircraft to continue to fly $41 billion per year.
and safely return to home base or the nearest airport.
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/news/page11697.html
7


Panic Button Emergency Landing
Utilizing a combination of adaptive flight controls, auto-takeoff and landing, and damage/fault tolerance
capabilities, manned aviation will in the near future be able experience the benefits already realized by
unmanned systems, with completely automated panic button auto-land. In the case of a bird strike or
other damage, or pilot incapacitation, a flight crew member or passenger can simply press a button
during an emergency and the aircraft will autonomously fly to the nearest airport and land safely.

Step 1 – Step 2 –
Aircraft Crew/passenger
encounters presses guarded
emergency Panic Button

Step 3 –
Flight controls take
over and fly aircraft
to nearest airport

Step 4 –
Flight controls land
aircraft safely

8


Integrated Air Traffic Management
The FAA, other major governmental agencies, and industry including Rockwell Collins, all recognize the growing
need for technological improvements in airspace utilization and management. An example of this is the FAA’s
Next Generation Air Transport System. The “NextGen” program utilizes a variety of advanced automated
technologies, including ADS-B, which provides automated aircraft position reporting.

9


Situational Awareness
Utilizing advanced data link technologies, IFF, ADS-B and multilateration solutions can greatly increase situational
awareness by automatically broadcasting an aircraft’s state vector, as well as communicating the positions of other
aircraft within a given sector of airspace. Capabilities like these, along with distributed computing, automatic
communications and collision avoidance systems, give UAVs and manned aircraft the ability to reactively and
proactively anticipate and avoid conflicts with not only other aircraft, but also buildings and mountains. And with
form factors and pricing continuing to decrease, solutions for situational awareness such as ADS-B are becoming
affordable for general aviation, including homebuilts and even for hot air balloons and sky divers. Soon, all aircraft
will be able to “plug in” to see and be seen in next generation air space.

Integrated Communications: Radios, Data links and Networking
Rockwell Collins offers superior communications, from radios to common data links and high bandwidth networking
to provide valuable, real time, dynamic information about an aircraft’s location as it relates to others, both
cooperative and uncooperative. Our complete line of solutions features the smallest form factors and the
highest transmission speeds for both voice and data.

Required Navigation Performance and 4D-Navigational Capabilities
At Rockwell Collins we believe the ability to seamlessly integrate with manned aircraft is crucial to opening the skies
to increasing UAV operations. Next generation navigation capabilities like Required Navigation Performance (RNP)
and 4D-Nav ensure the predictability and accuracy of separation and arrival times, improve aircraft trajectories,
as well as increase the safety and fuel efficiency of UAVs and manned aircraft.

Digital Engine Controls
Efficiency gains through automation can be more easily achieved via simple interfaces to digital engine control
Approximately
systems. For example, digital flight controls including autoland require interfaces to engine controls. Also, every 20 minutes,
aircraft reliability can be significantly enhanced by bringing electronic engine controls to a much bigger a UAV equipped
market – manned, unmanned, military and civilian aircraft. As fuel costs rise, levels of congestion increase, with a Rockwell Collins
and manned and unmanned aircraft occupy common airspace, mission duration becomes a critical Athena flight control
component to the success of the convergence. To achieve their long mission duration times and ensure system completes a
successful autolanding.
engine reliability, optimum engine control and efficiency are key to maximum UAV utilization.
Rockwell Collins Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) systems improve the overall performance
and reliability of both manned and unmanned aircraft engines and have demonstrated up to a 20%
10 increase in fuel efficiency.


Due Regard and Weather Radar
Actively monitoring and avoiding aircraft or severe weather are keys to optimal UAV utilization. Rockwell Collins
airborne due regard and weather radar systems provide increased awareness and avoidance capabilities in all
operational conditions.

11

Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and operations underway
by industry and government

At Rockwell Collins, we believe UAVs are capable of flying in common airspace alongside manned aviation.
Achieving the full potential of this manned/unmanned integration is more than a technological challenge – it will
take a change in thinking. Our risk adverse culture is preventing faster integration. The only way to influence a
change in the standing culture is through demonstration – seeing is believing. Demonstrations, pilot programs
and some operations are occurring on a regular basis to show that the technology to enable UAVs to operate with
extremely high reliability exists today. Key technologies such as ADS-B, due regard radar, redundant control systems
and more are enabling the convergence to materialize. Following are some examples of the demonstrations and
operations that are happening every day.

What Manned/Unmanned Demonstrations and Operations are Happening in the Industry Today?
Manned/Unmanned integration in the Battlespace

Image concept courtessy of the United States Army.

The reliability of today’s UAVs has, in fact, increased significantly over the past decade making them
critical tools in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through advancements in flight control
and navigation systems, as well as engines, radar and air frames, UAVs are operating today alongside
manned aircraft around one of the busiest airports in the world.
12

by industry and government continued....

Balad Air Base in Iraq
Currently, there are up to 30 UAV flights daily from Balad that are completely integrated with manned military
helicopters and jets, military and civilian cargo planes, as well as many other aircraft types. This is undeniable
proof that this level of interaction is absolutely feasible in the near future for the commercial airspace.
Link to Aviation Week article:

Demand for UAVs continues to grow
Total number of military UAVs has grown from 167 in 2001 to 5,500. Predators and Reapers for example are flying
over 30 patrols a day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because these airplanes cost less, are less risky and are invaluable
for surveillance information, demand for UAVs will continue. In fact, in the meantime, the U.S. military is equipping
turboprop airplanes with the same video cameras as UAVs. With increasing demand for UAVs in the battlespace,
UAVs and manned aircraft will increasingly coexist in the same airspace.
World News Week Network article: http://article.wn.com/view/2009/03/17/Drones_US_weapons_of_choice/

UAVs are serving to keep you safe
UAVs continue to increase their presence in commercial airspace as demand for these low cost, high utility aircraft
continues to climb. Places such as Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota are encouraging faster integration
to meet their goals of hosting an Unmanned Aircraft Wing by 2011. The FAA is considering restricting airspace just
for UAVs around the air base. UAVs are being granted certificates of authorization (COAs) from the FAA to fly tests
or operational missions related to police surveillance, border patrol, fire fighting and weather monitoring.
Under the current rules, COAs require UAVs to fly under restrictions related to low population areas or VFR
only conditions. Often times a chase aircraft or ground observer is required. Aviation Today article:
http://www.aviationtoday.com/asw/categories/military/Drone-Flight-Authorizations-Take-Off_30526.html

Proliferation of UAVs in safety-related and civil missions Demand for
UAVs are again being deployed for use in natural disaster situations. A Predator UAV was dispatched to UAVs is increasing.
conduct surveillance over the Red River flood area in North Dakota supplying video of the damage to Did you know that
authorities to compare against pre-flood images. After taking some criticism for not deploying UAVs the total number of
UAVs in the United States
after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, UAVs are getting clearances more quickly and easily to fly over in 2001 was 167?
disaster affected areas, as was also the case during the Gulf Coast Hurricanes and Southern California Today it is over 5,500.
fires. Star Tribune article:
http://www.startribune.com/local/41841417.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiacyKUUr

13


UAVs are helping scientists with critical weather and climate research
The benefits of using UAVs for dangerous and dirty assignments is obvious for the scientists assigned to the
Arctic to survey summer melting trends or for the assessment of hurricane intensity. Furthermore, the use of UAVs
enables a sustained period of analysis and constant data reporting as well as the ability to continue nonstop to
remote locations. It is among these reasons that NOAA funded a $3 million, three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Program intended to test UAVs for this purpose. According to Marty Ralph, manager of NOAA’s UAV Program, “Data
gathered by unmanned aircraft can help us understand how humans are affecting the planet and how we might
mitigate the impacts of natural disasters resulting from severe weather and climate.” The funding of this program
is further evidence of the expanding market and potential use of UAV technology.
NOAA Article: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080122_aircraft.html

UAVs give local police “eyes in the sky”
The law enforcement community is trailblazing the use of UAVs in civilian airspace, and for good reason – the
benefits are enormous. UAVs can operate around the clock. They don’t tire, are more economical and can cover
more territory than manned aircraft. But similar to military use, the purpose of UAVs in law enforcement and
civilian applications is to augment manned aircraft operations, not replace them. Police departments across the
country are trialing UAVs to use for reconnaissance and surveillance. In Los Angeles, the Sheriffs’ department
experimented with a UAV in commercial airspace in 2006. BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5051142.stm

In Miami and Houston, police departments are conducting trials of UAVs in cooperation with the FAA to determine
restrictions on when, where and under what conditions the aircraft can be flown. Many police departments see
the value of UAVs, which can provide real time video, fly for longer periods of time and cost less than operating
similarly equipped manned aircraft. Government Video article: http://www.theppsc.org/Archives/wp/?p=2388

Major United Kingdom UAV research program - ASTRAEA
Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment, “ASTRAEA,” is an initial
£32 million joint government and industry evaluation program with the mission to research and test
technologies to facilitate flying UAVs in desegregated airspace in Europe. Some of the technologies
being researched and developed include: ground technologies, communications, UAS handling,
adaptive routing, collision avoidance, multiple aircraft integration, vehicle health monitoring and
decision modeling. Phase I of ASTRAEA culminated with simulated UAV flight demonstrations, while
Phase II will involve actual flight demonstrations. ASTRAEA article: http://www.projectastraea.co.uk/

14


ASAC is key to DARPA’s successful damage tolerance demonstration
Rockwell Collins completed a successful flight test of a significantly damaged unmanned F/A-18 subscale model
air vehicle. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored the flight demonstrations held
in the spring of 2008, at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

During the first flight test, nearly half of the airplane’s right wing was ejected to simulate battle damage
and in-flight failure. During the second flight, almost 60 percent of the airplane’s right wing was ejected.
Upon ejecting the wing section during both flights, Rockwell Collins’ Automatic Supervisory Adaptive
Control (ASAC) technology reacted to the airplane’s new vehicle configuration, automatically regained
baseline performance, continued to fly the plane, and then autonomously landed it using internal
Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS) reference only.
Defense News article: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3609855

15


Army Aviation’s Dynamic Airspace Management Demonstration
The U.S. Army’s Aviation System Project Office briefed the audience at the Association of Army Aviation UAV
Symposium in December 2008 about a demonstration titled Dynamic Airspace Management. The office
demonstrated that UAVs can maintain the equivalent level of safety of manned aircraft, which is an FAA
requirement before UAVs will be granted unrestricted access to the national airspace. Current FAA restrictions
require a UAV to either have a chase aircraft or an observer on the ground. In addition, daylight only operations
are allowed. In a demonstration held in October of 2008, the Army incorporated sensors, communications,
mitigation procedures and “tunnels” of airspace to demonstrate UAVs could fly collision free with manned
aircraft. See presentation on AAAA website:
http://www.quad-a.org/Symposiums/08UAS/Presentations/Potts%20COL.ppt

What ADS-B Demonstrations and Operations Are Happening in the Industry today?

16


ADS-B: unifying NextGen airspace
One of the keys to making the safe integration of UAVs with manned aircraft in the “NextGen” airspace is the
global implementation of Automated Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Because ADS-B radiates a signal
containing an aircraft’s type, identification, GPS position, altitude, heading, speed, intent (i.e., climbing, descending
or level) and other data, the technology gives aircraft, manned and unmanned, the ability to know where they are
and where they are relative to other aircraft.

NextGen Air Traffic Management is making progress as a result of the success to date with ADS-B pilots and
demonstrations in Alaska and by UPS. With ADS-B in the NextGen airspace, air traffic controllers will become
air traffic managers. Federal Computer Week article: http://www.fcw.com/Articles/2009/03/09/FAA-NextGen.aspx

UPS flights fakeoff with ADS-B
When you’re operating the world’s ninth largest airline, it pays to take advantage of emerging technologies
thatcan help you save time and fuel. United Parcel Service, Inc., which operates 266 aircraft totaling some
1,900 flights to and from its hub in Louisville, Kentucky, has initiated a test program by installing ADS-B ADS-B has been proven
on six of its aircraft. According to a story in The Washington Times, the goal of the test is to determine to save 40-70 gallons
what kind of increased efficiencies the company can gain through improved information handling. One of fuel per commercial
of the early benefits is that it enables the air carrier’s pilots to perform a “continuous descent” landing, airliner landing.
which cuts down on emissions and, according to the story, saves 40 to 70 gallons of fuel per landing.
The Washington Times article:
17 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/02/air-traffic-control-evolves-as-faa-adopts-gps/


Capstone Project improves Alaskan air safety
Alaska has one of the largest populations of general aviation aircraft and pilots in the world. Unfortunately,
because of its combination of rough terrain, unpredictable weather and lack of radar and navigational
aids, it also has a high rate of fatal accidents. During his testimony to the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, Agam N. Sinha Sr., Senior Vice
President and General Manager of The MITRE Corporation, discussed the Capstone Project. Capstone
was a joint project between the FAA and aviation industry that ran from 1999 to 2006.
Under the test program, the FAA provided aircraft avionics, including ADS-B, to both private and
commercial aircraft in the region. According to Mr. Sinha’s testimony, the results of the Capstone
program were dramatic, achieving a 49% reduction in fatal accidents for ADS-B equipped aircraft.
Video: http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=532
Written Testimony: http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyAviation/2009-03-18-Sinha.pdf

US Air puts ADS-B to the transatlantic test
According to a recent story in Aviation Week & Space Technology, the FAA has given US Airways $6 million dollars
to begin a pilot program to evaluate the benefits of satellite-based navigation and ADS-B for flights in the
congested Northeastern airspace and long-haul transatlantic routes. US Airways expects to have the ADS-B
equipment on 20 of its Airbus A330 aircraft by 2010. The aircraft will use both “ADS-B In” and “ADS-B Out,”
so they will not only transmit their own position information, but also be able to receive information from
other aircraft. This automated two-way communication is key to achieving the goals of NextGen airspace.
Aviation Week article:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/
aw012609p3xml&headline=US+Airways’+A330s+Slated+to+Test+ADS-B

NextGen ADS-B Debuts in Florida
An early milestone was reached with the roll out of NextGen’s ADS-B system at Miami International Airport
in April 2009. This is the first location in the United States where radar will be phased out and replaced with
satellite based ADS-B, providing more location information for air traffic controllers and pilots. Long term,
the NextGen system, with the aid of ADS-B, will allow pilots to fly more direct paths while improving safety
and reducing fuel consumption and will facilitate the integration of UAVs into combined airspace.
Miami Herald article: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/989545.html

18

Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by organizations such as the FAA and
EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air traffic management

Global air traffic management and UAVs
Global air traffic management and UAVs are intertwined. In the planning and development of next generation air
traffic management systems in the U.S. and in Europe, it is critical that global collaboration within government
and industry groups occur and that UAVs be considered and planned for in the mix. Rockwell Collins Chairman, and
CEO Clay Jones, when discussing the challenge of global air traffic management, the importance of collaboration,
and increasing use of UAVs for an article in Flight International, said, “We can be the generation and the ‘global industry’
that truly unites the planet politically, economically and culturally as we face future challenges.”

United States
Flying UAVs outside of segregated airspace in the United States National Air System (NAS) today can occur by one
of two methods: Certificate of Authorization (COA) and Experimental Certification. Neither method is a fixed,
set-in-stone process. The FAA evaluates each applicant on its own merits, based on its needs, the aircraft,
desired flight location, time, etc.

Outside of emergencies and disaster recovery, applying for a COA is generally a one flight at a time process and
tends to be easier the second time if nothing about the request/application has changed. UAV manufacturers are
no longer able to apply for COAs, making flying a UAV in the NAS more challenging if the manufacturer does not
already have a military sponsor for the work. Only military and public use operators may be granted COAs.

An Experimental Certification must be applied for each aircraft, but is good for multiple flights for a given set
of fixed equipment, location and other conditions.

The FAA’s website contains an extensive amount of information about how to apply for a COA, an Experimental
Certification, who to contact, Q&As and more. The site posts newsletters about approvals for COAs and other
progress related to integrating UAVs in the NAS including the passage of the Small Unmanned Aircraft System
Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), to begin to determine the first set of standard rules for flying UAVs in
the NAS, starting with smaller UAVs.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/air/hq/engineering/uapo/
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/uas/cert/
http://www.auvsi.org/news/sUAS_ARC.pdf

19

EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air traffic management continued....

Other organizations involved in facilitating safe and efficient integration of UAV into the NAS include the Radio Technical
Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Special Committee 203 (SC-203):
(http://www.rtca.org/comm/Committee.cfm?id=45)
and UAV National Industry Team (UNITE) :
(http://www.uniteaero.com/Archives/UNITE%20v2/html/index2.html).

SC-203’s operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to make formal recommendations to the FAA for UAV
technical standards. UNITE is a non-profit industry organization comprised of several major UAV and subsystem
manufacturers including Rockwell Collins.

Europe
EUROCONTROL is the intergovernmental organization responsible for the safety of air navigation in Europe.
The organization has 38 members and is responsible for the vision, master plan, working plan and oversight of the
Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program. The goal of SESAR is to convert the segmented
air space of Europe into one sky with two major ATC centers. The program vision is to modernize the air traffic
management system in Europe, accommodate increasing air traffic, improve safety, reduce emissions through more
direct flight paths and ultimately reduce costs. The European Parliament and the European Council have finalized the
Single European Sky legislation which should be formally adopted later in 2009, accepting the SESAR master plan.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/106966.pdf

While UAV integration into nonsegregated airspace is an objective of EUROCONTROL and is actively being pursued,
convergence of manned and unmanned aircraft may be more complex in Europe than in the U.S. until SESAR is
actually implemented and there is truly one sky instead of several.

20

EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air traffic management continued....

Part of EUROCONTROL, the European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EuroCAE) Working Group 73,
(http://www.eurocae.net/workinggroups.html), recommends certification standards for UAVs in Europe, working closely
with the RTCA SC-203 committee in the U.S. to ensure technical standards will be consistent across the globe.
Some of WG73’s subgroups and priorities for UAV standards include 1) UAS operations, 2) airworthiness and
continued airworthiness, 3) command and control, communications and spectrum, and security, and
4) UAS for visual line of sight.
http://www.eurocontrol.int/eatm/gallery/content/public/events/Updated%20Presentations/9%20EUROCAE%20WG%2073.pdf

EUROCONTROL is approaching UAV integration into nonsegregated airspace in two phases: Phase I) integration
of UAVs as it relates to the requirements and standards of Europe’s current ATM system through 2020,
and Phase 2) integration beyond 2020 in line with the modernized Single European Sky ATM System.

EUROCONTROL published a set of comprehensive UAV specifications for flying military UAVs as operational air
traffic (OAT) in commercial airspace and plans to have a UAV road map by the end of 2009 that details how UAVs
will be integrated into common airspace. Information is available at:
http://www.eurocontrol.int/mil/public/news/UAV_specifications.html

21

Step 5 Change Culture - Imagine the possibilities

Whether it is from a mission success and performance standpoint, or the economic and safety value of unmanned aircraft,
the world has seen enormous success with UAVs conducting reconnaissance in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
As the need and desire to use UAVs in law enforcement, disaster recovery, fire fighting, weather monitoring, cargo delivery
and other applications continue to increase, and the civilian airspace becomes more and more utilized by UAVs and manned
aviation, the need for NextGen air traffic management, sophisticated levels of technology, and greater automation
are critical.

It is unlikely that there will ever be an adequate number of ATC operators added to the system to manage the increase in air
traffic. The problem has to be solved with automation. This is a similar scenario to the growth of the Internet. After years
of increasing traffic, today Internet traffic and conflict resolution are fundamentally managed through automation. With
programs such as FAA’s NextGen air traffic modernization and the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) program
underway, more funding of technology and automation, such as ADS-B and RNP, is coming.

With positive results from technology demonstrations in the areas of ADS-B, multilateration, RNP, damage tolerance,
networking and communications, and with changes to industry and government cultures, we can expect to see UAVs
flying in commercial airspace in the very near future.

And one day, we may in fact be stepping onto an unmanned commercial or business jet, pressing a button to select
a destination, then sitting back, relaxing and enjoying a cup of automatically brewed coffee.

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About the Author
Dr. Vos joined Rockwell Collins with the acquisition of Athena Technologies – a leading flight control and navigation
systems company – in April 2008. Vos was Founder, CTO and CEO of Athena Technologies. Having worked in the
unmanned systems industry since its inception, he is a pioneer and a thought leader in the area of Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

While still studying for his Ph.D. at MIT, Vos developed a new mathematical approach for treating nonlinear, highly
timed-variant systems as if they were both linear and time invariant. He proved this approach and the resulting
technology with the invention of the world’s first autonomous unicycle. With this success, Vos opened the door to
an entirely new field of dynamics and control.

Born in South Africa and now a U.S. citizen, Vos is the inventor and developer of Rockwell Collins Control Technologies
core technology. He holds patents in nonlinear control systems and other areas and has broad experience in guidance
and control systems.

In August of 2007, Vos was appointed by Virginia’s Governor Kaine to Commissioner of the Vint Hill Economic
Development Authority’s Board of Commissioners. In June of 2007, Vos was named by Ernst & Young as an
Entrepreneur of the Year in the greater Washington area.

Vos holds a B.S. in Engineering with Honors in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch,
South Africa, an M.S. in Dynamics and Control from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Estimation and Control from
MIT, in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

David W. Vos, Ph.D.
Senior Director,
Rockwell Collins Control Technologies

23

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For more information contact:

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800.321.2223
319.295.5100
Fax: 319.378.1172
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