Air Force Research Laboratory stood up a new unmanned aircraft system test facility near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for trials that require beyond-line-of-sight flight. The site is equipped with SkyVision, a technology designed to manage UAS air traffic, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.
Afterward, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized AFRL to perform UAS tests at this site without the need for ground-based spotters or chase planes. The Ohio Department of Transportation will deploy experts from its UAS center to manage SkyVision from a mobile vehicle.
“We have advanced the technology to the point the FAA now entrusts us and AFRL to use the system to fly any kind of UAS in totally unrestricted airspace,” said Col. Riley Pyles, senior materiel leader at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s aerospace management systems division.
FAA is looking to allow operators to conduct UAS test flights at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet above sea level with SkyVision detection technology.
