Sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT is pushing ahead with the development of a collision warning system for civil and military autonomous air vehicles.
The radar sensor at the heart of the system has been successfully tested as part of both military and civilian study programs and a flight test demonstration is scheduled for the northern summer.
“We have progressed faster than expected with our Detect-and-Avoid radar,” said Erwin Paulus, head of HENSOLDT’s radar division, in a statement.
“In the meantime, the complete functional chain from detection and classification to the initiation of avoidance manoeuvres is working so reliably that we are sure we will be able to demonstrate a basic system for autonomous flying in the summer.”
Since the beginning of the year, HENSOLDT has also been involved in the European Detect and Avoid System (EUDAAS) program in which several European companies are developing a concept for taking large military medium altitude/long endurance drones into European airspace.
HENSOLDT says its Detect-and-Avoid radar uses the latest Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) technology allowing for multiple, simultaneous detection tasks including rapid target detection. It says the radar is scalable and can be applied to large military systems as well as smaller civilian drones.