Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center Presented by: Deborah Germak To:FLC National Meeting Date:April 29, 2010

2 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 The Federal Aviation Administration Our mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. Our vision is to improve the safety and efficiency of aviation, while being responsive to our customers and accountable to the public.

3 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 Current Aviation Outlook The FAA operates the National Airspace System (NAS) The volume of air travel and cargo is expected to increase Aviation plays a large role in the U.S. economy –In 2006, civil aviation activity within the overall economy contributed: 11 million jobs, $1.2 trillion in economic activity, and 5.6 percent of the gross domestic product

4 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 William J. Hughes Technical Center Nation’s leading aviation and air traffic management Federal laboratory Fully integrated network of specialized labs Only laboratories in the world where it is possible to simulate an end-to-end scenario (non-operational environment) Recognized aviation expertise – automation, communications, navigation, and surveillance Five decades of air traffic management test and evaluation achievements

5 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 WJHTC Activities and Programs Provides world class facilities to perform research, engineering, development, test, evaluation, and maintenance for air transportation systems Airport and Aircraft Safety Engineering Development Services Systems Engineering and Safety Communications, Flight Service and Weather Aviation Weather Surveillance and Navigation System Engineering and Support Services Human Factors Modeling, Simulation and Analysis

6 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) You’re flying, look at the window and see: (Global Hawk) Industry wants to fly in the NAS

7 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 How do you do that and be NAS Safe??!! Numerous technical, regulatory, and safety challenges and considerations, such as: –Collision avoidance –Command and control –Airworthiness –Certification of aircraft, operators, traffic management Industry came to the federal laboratory – WJHTC (Reaper)

8 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements Entered into three CRDAs in 6/09: –AAI Corporation –General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. –General Electric – Aviation Systems LLC. Objective –Support integration of UASs into the NAS using: Modeling and simulation Four-dimensional trajectory- based operations (4DT) Flight demonstrations (NIEC Lab)

9 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 Latest Developments GE, AAI, FAA and U.S. Army performed the first “proof of concept” flight demo of 4DT operations Demonstrated approach for safe integration of UAS into the NAS Conducted three-hour demo for more rigorous testing Conducted simulation with U.S. Marines to fly DOD- UASs through commercial airspace More to come, CRDAs have 2 year period of performance

10 Federal Aviation Administration FLC National Meeting – April 29, 2010 Point of Contact Deborah Germak, Program Manager FAA Technology Transfer Program Technical Strategies and Integration Group, AJP-7C3 Atlantic City International Airport, NJ (P) (F) – for lab profiles