A Detect and Avoid platform which identifies and tracks drones and other aircraft was deployedat the Farnborough International Airshow last month.
The Arrow ground-based Detect and Avoid (DAA) system was deployed by NATS Services, the commercial arm of the UK’s ANSP and UTM (Unified Traffic Management) provider Altitude Angel.
The Arrow DAA system continuously monitored the airspace at Farnborough, notably aircraft operating at lower levels, which can be difficult to track using traditional radar systems.
Altitude Angel’s Arrow system has been developed to detect authorised and unauthorised traffic including drones. Authorities at the show had real-time access to the data gathered by the Arrow towers
Richard Ellis, head of new airspace users at NATS said, “A pop-up service like this one is a great example of how safety can be achieved in very complex environments where non-cooperative drone activity can have a real impact on an airshow.”
Richard Parker, CEO of Altitude Angel said, “Working alongside Farnborough International and NATS Services throughout a very busy airshow validates the performance and range of the sensor and software technologies we’ve developed.
“The Airshow is a very busy airspace environment, attended by crowds of hundreds of thousands; our Arrow towers, deployed in just a matter of hours, demonstrated an ability to provide vital intelligence to the authorities, a service that can help to safeguard very complex events.”
Arrow collected data from a series of road-towable mast-based sensors to create a view of lower-level airspace within Farnborough Airport’s flight restricted zone (FRZ) and beyond. The infrastructure was completely self-sufficient – it generated its own power from solar PV and used a private communications network.
The data provided included real-time visibility of non-electronically conspicuous aircraft and drones, which don’t carry traditional transponders fused into a single airspace picture.
Alex Culley, NATS GM Farnborough Airport, said: “Our focus during the airshow is to ensure a safe event for visitors and participants and minimal disruption to our neighbouring airspace users. We need a robust and comprehensive view of all traffic moving in and out of the airshow and new technology solutions can help enhance safety, security, and operational efficiency within the airspace.”