First pilotless aircraft makes maiden flight in UK airspace

An unmanned BAE Systems’ Jetstream aircraft known as ‘The Flying Test Bed’ has successfully completed its maiden flight, becoming the world’s first unmanned flight across the UK shared airspace.

The aircraft, specially adapted to fly in unmanned mode, took off from Warton in Lancashire and landed in Inverness, Scotland.

BAE Systems noted that this development marked another step forward in the evolution of flight and proves that future technology of this kind could be safe.

The twin-turboprop airliner carried two onboard pilots as a precaution. However, it was under the control of a pilot on the ground at Wartonand, the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) controllers.

Advanced sensors and on-oard robotic systems were used to control the aircraft.

The 500-mile flight was part of a series of test flight trials designed to validate the technology required to allow the safe and routine flying of unmanned aircraft in the UK airspace, according to BAE Systems.

It was conducted by the autonomous systems technology related airborne evaluation and assessment (ASTRAEA) project, the UK’s £62m aerospace programme co-funded by AOS, BAE Systems, Cobham, EADS Cassidian, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, Thales, the Technology Strategy Board, the Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Enterprise.

The ASTRAEA programme focuses on technologies, systems, facilities, procedures and regulations that will allow autonomous vehicles to operate safely and routinely in UK airspace.

BAE Systems programme director for ASTRAEA Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal said the work will likely have an impact in between the next five and 20 years as unmanned aircraft and associated technology develop and become a part of everyday life.

"These latest trials help prove the technology we need to routinely operate unmanned aircraft in our airspace and also help the regulators develop the framework in which the aircraft can operate in," he said.

NATS unmanned air vehicle (UAV) expert Andrew Chapman added: "NATS ensured that this test flight was held without any impact on the safety of other users of airspace at the time. Although there is still work to be done it would seem that, on the basis of the success of this flight, a UAV could operate in different classes of airspace."

While the previous test flights were conducted over the Irish Sea, this flight was the first to fly over airspace used by other jetliners.

The Jetsream uses its ‘sense and avoid’ system to avoid collisions, and can also detect and avoid bad weather conditions, as well as relay air traffic control instructions to the pilot on the ground through satellite.

Even though unmanned passenger flights may take several years to enter service, in the short-term, they could be used for search- and-rescue operations.

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Image: The flight was part of a series of test flight trials designed to validate the technology required to allow the safe and routine flying of unmanned aircraft in the UK airspace. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.