Lockheed Martin Technology Aids Pilots, UAS Operators Share Data

Lockheed Martin has deployed the first components of a UAS traffic management (UTM) system that helps pilots and UAS operators to share data, which is necessary to remain safe.

Lockheed Martin's online Flight Service Pilot Web feeds flight plan information directly to the Federal Aviation Administration's National Airspace System (NAS). UAS operators presently have an option of reporting operating areas via this system, the company announced Monday.

UAS operators and pilots may access the system through the Lockheed Martin Flight Service Pilot Portal.

"Our objective is an open, standards-based system that individual operators and other private UTM systems can use to interact seamlessly and securely with the NAS," said Paul Engola, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Transportation and Financial Solutions business.

Lockheed Martin is developing additional UTM capabilities in collaboration with several industry stakeholders including the NASA UTM research project through a Space Act information sharing agreement.

These capabilities include standards-based software interfaces that allow UAS ground control stations and other UTM platforms to interact directly with Lockheed Martin's UTM system; monitoring of UAS to determine if they remain in their intended operating area; and notification of air traffic control when UAS encroach on controlled airspace.

Lockheed Martin is also developing capabilities to support beyond line-of-sight UAS operations through ground-based detect and avoid capabilities.