The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has awarded a grant to a consortium of providers to prepare an operational demonstration of service-provider support for overlapping Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations in shared airspace. Participants include the Airspace Modernisation Fund (coordinating), ANRA Technologies U.K., Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Manna Drone Delivery, and Wing.
The consortium aims to leverage experience from ongoing U.S. UAS Traffic Management operations and implementation. Live trials will be conducted in Lancashire, U.K. “The work will validate interoperability, governance frameworks, and cooperative operating principles for safely managing commercial and emergency service drone operations in shared airspace,” according to the CAA.
Stuart Lindsey, head of airspace modernization for the CAA, said, “The Airspace Modernisation Support Fund exists to accelerate practical innovation and research that benefits the wider aviation community. This project exemplifies that intent by enabling the operational evaluation of live, multi-stakeholder BVLOS operations that will help inform the UK’s Future of Flight Programme, as well as the next stages of UK airspace policy and regulation.”
