APRIL - 20248 IN MY OPINIONINTERWEAVING DRONES WITH AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENTThe German air navigation service provider (ANSP) DFS is committed to the safe and fair integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into airspace. It wants to enable safe, efficient, and orderly operations for all air traffic participants.DFS positioned itself early and actively in the EU's U-space initiative, part of the European SESAR Joint Undertaking, to consolidate its role in the dynamic drone market. DFS is not just focusing on its current sovereign mandate as an ANSP, but has the entire controlled and uncontrolled airspace in view, with manned and unmanned traffic.To include new airspace participants safely and fairly, they have to be synchronised with traditional air traffic management (ATM) in terms of technology as well as processes and procedures. As part of an extended mandate, DFS sees itself responsible for structuring, organising, and managing future air traffic management in the entire airspace.INTEGRATING DRONES WITH ATM OPERATIONSThe main goal is to assure the safety of all airspace participants in the air and around airports.As the vital human element, it is important to protect air traffic controllers as much as possible from increased workload stemming from connecting an air traffic management system for UAS (a so-called UTM system) or drone detection solutions at airports to ATM systems and from reducing interfaces between ATM systems for air traffic services, communication, navigation and surveillance, and non-ATM systems to a necessary minimum.To avoid capacity reductions, DFS is seeking innovative and economically viable solutions that guarantee customers' requirements can be met.Our aim is that UTM and ATM are interoperable and that we are actively involved in the development of the corresponding standards.NATIONAL UTM PLATFORMWith the operation of a national UTM platform, DFS sees itself as a market enabler, promoting the provision of various U-space functionalities in free competition as well as the safe use of drones in all fields of application.To this end, DFS has developed its own UTM system. The system receives position data of drones using the mobile telecommunications network and incorporates them into an air situation display. Surrounding traffic and potential conflicts are displayed in prohibited areas, around airports, for example, charts and meteorological information are also incorporated.The UTM system has been validated and tested for robustness and has been used to successfully complete more than 50 long-range flights, covering a flight distance of 2,350 km.BY OLIVER PULCHER, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT, DFS DEUTSCHE FLUGSICHERUNGOliver Pulcher
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