The IRINA project is working to ensure that unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) can safely share the sky with their manned counterparts.

Whether used for inspection, survey, surveillance, or delivery operations, RPAS have the potential to revolutionise society and the economy. But leveraging this potential requires that these aircraft, which are remotely operated by a pilot, be able to fly alongside manned aircraft in all airspace classes.

Unfortunately, this is currently not the case, with RPAS being restricted to segregated airspaces in Instrument Flight Rules classes.

“Managing RPAS traffic is particularly challenging for air traffic controllers as these aircraft fly significantly slower than conventional jet airliners,” says Julia Sanchez, UAS ATM & C-UAS Expert at EUROCONTROL. “They also tend to experience latency in communicating with the ground, sometimes even losing the communication link altogether.”

Furthermore, the high level of automation and capabilities of RPAS differ significantly from those of today’s manned aircraft, creating additional challenges to their safe integration into both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.

Addressing these challenges is the SESAR-funded IRINA project.

Coordinated by EUROCONTROL, the project contributes to the relevant standardisation and regulatory bodies. It does this by sharing its findings and developing acceptable means of compliance that meet the regulatory requirements that will allow RPAS to be fully integrated into European airspace.

The project has created an advisory committee that involves the UAS and military RPAS communities (e.g., EDA, NATO), air navigation service providers, air traffic controllers, airspace users, flight crew, industry, European institutions, ICAO, standardisation and regulation bodies, the scientific community, other airspace user associations, and academia.

The detect and avoid piece of the integration puzzle

Safely integrating unmanned aircraft into European airspace is a complex puzzle. The IRINA project focuses on the Detect and Avoid piece of that puzzle.

The Detect and Avoid (DAA) function is what enables RPAS to avoid collisions, especially when operating in airspace classes where all traffic is not flying under ATC guidance.

While other projects have scratched the DAA surface, IRINA looks to get into the weeds. “We aim to go beyond just showing how RPAS can be integrated, we want to propose the standards, regulations and procedures that will ultimately make such integration happen,” explains Sanchez.

For the IRINA project, this means focusing more on the people than the technology. “The technology is there,” adds Sanchez. “Our job is to advance this technology and to make sure the people – the air traffic controllers, the remote pilots, the pilots of unmanned aircraft – can all leverage this technology in a way that enables everyone to safely use the same airspace.”

From class A to class G and everything in-between

On the one hand, the project will look at integrating RPAS into controlled airspace, specifically, the A to C classes. Leveraging prior work done by the SESAR-funded ERICA project, IRINA researchers look to address such issues as ground safety and communication with air traffic controllers.

The project will also help accommodate RPAS into classes D to G, a category that includes both controlled and uncontrolled airspaces. These classes are particularly challenging as they include a wide range of users, some of which lack any means of communicating with any type of drone.

“We’re basically starting at a point where there are no rules for integrating RPAS into these airspace classes,” concludes Sanchez. “At the end of the day, we want to create recommendations – even conclusions – that clarify how manned and unmanned aircraft can safely fly in the same sky.”

A work-in-progress, the IRINA project is currently in the process of launching a set of fast and real-time simulations. Using the data and results derived from these simulations, researchers, together with other relevant stakeholders, will begin developing the solutions that could help clear the way towards a fully integrated European airspace.

More about the project