EDA’s groundwork to help Member States move towards the integration of MALE-type Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in civil air traffic in non-segregated airspace received another significant boost on 13 December 2021 when a live MALE-type RPAS cross-border flight was carried out by the French Air Force from Cognac airbase to Spain and back to France. While multiple inland flights had already been performed in the past by the French Air Force, it was the first time that such a MALE-type RPAS flight crossed European borders in non-segregated airspace class A-C.
During this flight - depicted on the chart below - several handovers were carried out between civilian and military air traffic control centers in Bordeaux, Madrid, Barcelona, and Marseille. The cruise was carried out in upper airspace, up to FL 230, according to one “circular” flight plan. The RPAS had no specific onboard equipment such as a detect and avoid system. The flight was successful as it demonstrated the ability of MALE-type RPAS to perform seamless changes from their initial routing and altitude, as requested by the Air Traffic Control. It also demonstrated the benefit of a robust safety analysis, harmonized procedures and a common Concept of Operations “ConOps” for cross-border operations.
Based on the materials gathered during this flight and on the safety analysis performed by the initial Accommodation Study (2017-2019 timeframe) carried-out by EDA, a validation report will be published early 2022, together with the guidelines on how to “accommodate” MALE-type RPAS in General Air Traffic (GAT) in non-segregated airspace class A-C.
Accommodation Study
EDA’s Accommodation Study was ordered in 2018 as part of the Agency’s effort to support Member States in the area of MALE-type RPAS air traffic integration. The study conclusions published in February 2019 provided tailored risk assessments and an enhanced aviation safety case assessment methodology for MALE-type RPAS flying in non-segregated European airspace, alongside manned aviation. Following the presentation of those simulations results, France offered the possibility to perform real flights with a MALE-type RPAS (the FAF Reapers), including a cross-border portion with Spain.
The material gathered during the latest test flight will further consolidate the work on the validation report and the guidelines of the study.
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