U.S. Army developers for an unmanned aerial vehicle Ground Based Sense and Avoid system have scheduled a fall return to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah for the final stage of its last system test.The Army said May 10 that John Innes, program test lead, indicated that the GBSAA is the first system to meet federal requirements in aerial aircraft detection and communication.
Monitoring functions of the system such as its health, warnings and aircraft position will be conducted and conveyed by a manned ground-based operator to an aircraft monitor.
Innes said that the system supports operators to fly UAVs and unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System without the need for a lookout or ground observer due to its aircraft location and operator notification.
Tests on the GBSAA started in 2012 in Dugway, an exercise that set two Shadow UAS on a collision course and evaluated how the system recognizes other vehicles and notifies operators.
The Army plans to field the GBSAA at five major stateside installations with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force showing interest in adopting the system for stateside installations.
