Northrop Grumman Corporation is collaborating with NASA to develop and test solutions for integrating large, uncrewed aircraft systems into the National Airspace System (NAS). The effort will focus on air cargo operations and is part of NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration (ATM-X) Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) subproject.
“Partnering with NASA, we will detail requirements and solutions to make it possible for autonomous aircraft, in this case being air cargo, to be integrated seamlessly and safely into national airspace,” said Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. “Our work together will improve airspace access and transform how uncrewed systems are used to transport goods across U.S. airspace and help establish airspace integration critical to future manned unmanned teaming efforts.”
Under this partnership, Northrop Grumman and NASA will develop and test solutions for integrating large Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the national airspace system, with an emphasis on air cargo operations. To support this long-term goal, they will exchange data and information to define technologies and procedures for remotely piloted systems. This work will include coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, flight readiness reviews and development of a test plan for simulations and flight demonstrations.
