Italian air traffic controllers have recently completed a live demonstration with a remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS) in non-segregated airspace, showing how these type of aircraft can be managed safely and effectively by adapting existing procedures and technologies. This is the first live flight trial of the Mediterranean ATM Live Exercise (MedALE) project, which is one of nine RPAS demonstration activities co-funded by the SESAR Joint Undertaking.

Located at the military ground radar station in Grazzanise and at the Napoli-Capodichino civil airport, air traffic controllers from project partner ENAV, the Italian Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), simulated a normal civil airspace procedure to manage the Sky-Y RPAS, which was developed by project leader, Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi. For the purpose of the demonstration, the controllers provided instructions for route and altitude changes, aiming to simulate typical interaction with normal air traffic and prevent conflict situations. In addition, emergency procedures, such as command and control link loss and loss of engine power, were also tested.

The RPAS was configured to support interaction between the pilot at the ground station and the controllers, aiming to demonstrate the possibility of managing a RPAS in nominal and emergency conditions. The main modification was the addition of a display showing “surrounding real traffic” information, via the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast IN (ADS-B IN) provided by Finmeccanica-Selex ES –which has supported the hardware and software integration of the new capabilities. All the modifications were certificated by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC), which granted the necessary permit to fly to perform the flight exercise.

With these activities the project is showing the feasibility of integrating multi RPAS civil operations into non-segregated airspace, both seamlessly and safely.