Thea Loise Woodward
The Air Traffic Control Association has recognized a Raytheon team that built a ground-based detect and avoid system to help the U.S. government facilitate the integration of drones into the public airspace.
Raytheon said Tuesday its GBDAA team accepted an award during ATCA's 64th annual conference and exposition in recognition of collaborative efforts with the Air Force Research Laboratory, government agencies and academic institutions.
GBDAA is a component of the Federal Aviation Administration-certified SkyVision mobile platform for beyond visual line-of-sight operations and built under a contract the U.S. Air Force awarded through the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.
Ohio's Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport implemented the system in April for small drone operation testing efforts within a range of 200 square miles.
"The GBDAA SkyVision team overcame numerous technical challenges in establishing the Unmanned Aircraft Systems test site in Ohio earlier this year," said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon's intelligence, information and services unit.
"Our National Airspace System can now support the safe integration of drones as a result of their exemplary collaboration," Gilligan added.
