BAE Systems has started another phase in unmanned aircraft technology testing from its Warton facility using Jetstream 31 Flying Testbed G-BWWW (c/n 614). The aircraft will be used on 17 flights on a route from Warton to Inverness, flying at 15,000ft (4,572m), during which BAE’s engineers aim to prove the capability, maturity and safe operation of autonomous air technologies controlled by a satcom-based link. The flights will also test aircraft and weather sense and avoid technologies using only camera input rather than radar. Two engineers will be aboard the aircraft, supported by a flight test observer and an unmanned air vehicle commander on the ground.
BAE said the results will, “inform the direction of the company’s future unmanned aircraft programme and the suitability of testing unmanned aircraft in the UK”. The trials are self-funded by BAE at a cost of around £400,000 and build on the ASTRAEA (Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment) Research and Development programme that ran from 2008-2013 and researched the operation of unmanned aircraft in UK civil airspace. Mark Broadbent
