U.S. Awards $12 Million to Support 19 Drone Technology Research Projects

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 5, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration awarded a total of $12 million in funding to drone research and testing projects, supporting 19 technology research efforts focused on drone collision avoidance, long-distance communications, airspace management, and flight identity verification. The funds were distributed through the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Broad Agency Announcement program. The funded organizations will collaborate with FAA-designated test sites to conduct technology verification and operational testing, providing experimental data for the integration of drones into the U.S. National Airspace System.

The funding involves companies such as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, ANRA Technologies, DroneUp, Censys Technologies, and Skydweller, as well as Oklahoma State University. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will research ground-based collision avoidance support systems, OneRadio will be responsible for testing passive radar collision avoidance technology, and Skydweller will conduct research on airborne collision avoidance systems for large drones. Censys Technologies will verify the application of satellite communication technology in long-distance drone flights, and Lighthouse Avionics will be responsible for developing remote route surveillance tools.

ANRA Technologies received four research tasks, covering the integration of air taxi and vertiport operating procedures, a unified altitude reference for drones, the connection between traditional airport air traffic control systems and drone traffic management systems, and the use of artificial intelligence to identify different types of drones. SPS Aerial Remote Sensing undertook three testing efforts, including drone detectability, sensor performance evaluation, and testing of sensor systems for drone traffic management and counter-drone applications.

Other projects include DroneUp's drone identity and flight authorization verification, Devorto's long-distance cargo drone services, Aerial Vantage's urban reserved airspace management tools, and ResilienX's drone mission and resource coordination software. Frequentis USA will conduct drone technology demonstrations, while Oklahoma State University will research drone detectability through the Aero Aware project. The specific funding allocations, testing periods, and technical acceptance dates for each organization have not yet been uniformly announced.

The above research will be carried out at nine FAA-designated unmanned aircraft systems test sites, involving Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Indiana. Each research project will conduct technical evaluations according to the corresponding test plans, with a focus on verifying the detection, communication, and traffic coordination capabilities of drones when sharing airspace with manned aircraft.