Successful Flight Operations Conducted Between Uncrewed Traffic Management System and Blue UAS Platforms at FAA Test Site

Commercial technologies combined the efficiency of mesh radios and the resilience of satellite technology, while securely providing real time information to the mission command center 

Demonstrating the future of airspace management for drones to securely operate anywhere in the world, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), in partnership with OUSD-A&S, Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), AgEagle, Auterion GS, AX Enterprize, Skydio, and Somewear Labs, recently  conducted flight operations while enabling critical data sharing via a multi-network device. 

The three-day event at the 300 acre NY UAS Test Site in June 2024 evaluated the integration of select Blue Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) platforms with the Collaborative Low-Altitude UAS Integration Effort (CLUE) Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) system. This system, developed by AFRL, provides a way to enable the safe, secure, and efficient operations of UAS within the national airspace system.

“As the usage of small UAS aiding warfighting functions continues to expand, it is becoming increasingly important to confidently distinguish between those UAS trusted to be used for DoD missions and those that just happen to be in our airspace,” said David Michelson, Autonomy Portfolio Director at DIU.

Demonstration partners and products included AgEagle’s eBee VISION and Skydio’s X2D flying missions while supplying telemetry data back to the CLUE UTM system over a Somewear Node multi-network device. The aircraft were controlled by UXV Technologies’ Soldier Robotic Controller (SRoC) ground control stations (GCS), a handheld device designed to operate and control unmanned vehicles effortlessly, and QGC-Gov, which is a DoD trusted and compliant software solution. This configuration combined the efficiency of mesh radios and the resilience of satellite technology, while securely providing real time information to the mission command center. 

Each GCS was connected via USB to a Somewear Node, with an additional range extending relay node carried by a Freefly Systems Astro UAV, all forming a mesh to a cellular device and back to the enterprise network for parsing and ingestion to the CLUE UTM software. The Somewear Node and associated app were recently added to the Blue UAS Framework list of approved critical components.

By combining the telemetry data provided by the UAS with other data feeds, such as automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B), counter-UAS sensors, and nearby radars, the CLUE system provided a visual situational awareness tool that can assist with air traffic deconfliction, flight area allocation, Federal Aviation Administration compliance, and identification of other UASs. 

UTM is critical anywhere unmanned aerial systems are operated and this effort has demonstrated a successful option for regular flight operations to be conducted with an uncrewed traffic management system that securely provides necessary information from anywhere in the world.