{"id":29889,"date":"2023-03-29T16:10:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T10:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=29889"},"modified":"2023-03-29T16:10:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T10:40:51","slug":"airbus-successfully-controls-an-autonomous-drone-from-a-tanker-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/29\/airbus-successfully-controls-an-autonomous-drone-from-a-tanker-aircraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus successfully controls an autonomous drone from a tanker aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The in-flight autonomous guidance and control of a drone using an A310 MRTT has been accomplished by Airbus Defence and Space and the company&#8217;s wholly-owned subsidiary, Airbus UpNext.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The technologies represent a significant advancement for future aerial operations involving manned and unmanned assets as a first step towards autonomous formation flight and autonomous air-to-air refuelling (A4R).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jean-brice-dumont-head-of-military-air-systems-at-airbus-defence-space\">Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence &amp; Space<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These innovative, &#8220;Made in Europe&#8221; solutions could improve operations, cut down on crew training expenses, and lessen worker weariness and the possibility of human mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29890\" width=\"1033\" height=\"1378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP-750x1000.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/E-My1tUXsAIuxoP.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1033px) 100vw, 1033px\" \/><figcaption><strong>Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence &amp; Space | Aviationa2z.com<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The development of autonomous and unmanned air-to-air refuelling technologies is made possible by the achievement of this initial flight-test campaign, according to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/en\/who-we-are\/our-governance\/jean-brice-dumont#:~:text=Jean%2DBrice%20Dumont%20has%20been,Committee%20since%201%20July%202021.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also, read                          <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/25\/eindhoven-airport-is-closed-down-due-to-a-bomb-threat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eindhoven Airport is closed down due to a bomb threat<\/a>                           <\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/19\/karnataka-government-break-buildings-taller-than-45m-near-jakkur-airport\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Karnataka Government: Break buildings taller than 45m near Jakkur airport<\/a>                    <\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/28\/visitbritain-and-indigo-collaborate-to-promote-tourism-between-the-uk-india\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VisitBritain and Indigo collaborate to promote tourism between the UK &amp; India<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Even though we are still in the early stages, we have accomplished this in less than a year and are on the right track for manned-unmanned teaming and future air force operations where fighters and mission aircraft will fly alongside drone swarms,&#8221; the author writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The technologies, known as Auto&#8217;Mate, were installed on an <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/en\/who-we-are\/our-governance\/jean-brice-dumont#:~:text=Jean%2DBrice%20Dumont%20has%20been,Committee%20since%201%20July%202021.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A310 <\/a><\/strong>MRTT flying testbed that took off from Getafe, Spain, on March 21. They were also installed on a number of DT-25 target drones that were functioning as receiver aircraft and flying out of Arenosillo Test Centre (CEDEA) in Huelva, Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the DT-25 was being autonomously guided to the in-flight refuelling position over the seas of the Gulf of Cadiz, drone control switched from a ground station to the A310 MRTT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-1024x614.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22099\" width=\"1037\" height=\"622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-600x360.jpg 600w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-1536x922.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-750x450.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7-1140x684.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/airbus-warehouse-hamburg-aircraft-production.1.7.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1037px) 100vw, 1037px\" \/><figcaption><strong>Airbus | Aviationa2z.com<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The four receivers were progressively controlled and ordered during a nearly six-hour flight test without the assistance of any humans, due to artificial intelligence and cooperative control algorithms. Up to a minimum of 150 feet (about 45 metres) from the A310 MRTT, the various receivers were steered and controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Auto\u2019Mate Demonstrator technology focuses on three pillars:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Accurate Relative Navigation to precisely ascertain the relative position, speed and attitudes between the tanker and the receiver;<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Intra-Flight Communication between platforms to allow information exchange among the different assets, increasing the autonomy of the system of systems;<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Cooperative Control Algorithms to provide guidance, coordination, consensus and collision-avoidance functionalities to the tanker and the receiver\/s.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-future-combat-air-system\">Future Combat Air System<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These cutting-edge innovations, created by a European team of engineers from Spain, Germany, and France, will widen the capability gap between themselves and their rivals while also being reused in significant technology initiatives like the Future Combat Air System. (FCAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second campaign, which will examine the use of artificial intelligence-based navigation sensors and improved algorithms for autonomous formation flight, is anticipated to begin near the end of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-750x563.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan-1140x855.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/singapore-airlines-to-redeploy-airbus-a380-superjumbo-to-india-from-jan.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><strong>Airbus | Aviationa2z.com<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Two simulated drones will also be flying close to the A310 MRTT in order to show off multi-receiver autonomous operations and collision-avoidance algorithms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thank you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stay updated with Aviationa2z.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Airbus successfully controls an autonomous drone from a tanker aircraft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7215,7216,7218,6761],"tags":[197,313,152,392,104,79,2030,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-29889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-airline-news","8":"category-aviation-news","9":"category-international-aviation-news","10":"category-news","11":"tag-airbus","12":"tag-aircraft","13":"tag-airlines","14":"tag-airlines-news","15":"tag-airport","16":"tag-aviation","17":"tag-aviation-a2z-news","18":"tag-latest-aviation-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29891,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29889\/revisions\/29891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}