The ARIADNA demonstration has completed simultaneous flight tests in a conventional airport of a drone or remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS/UAS) in the presence of a manned aircraft.

Led by Indra with partners CRIDA, ENAIRE and Fada-Catec, the flight tests are among the first to be undertaken in Europe of a drone operating close to conventional traffic near an airport. The flight testing took place at the ATLAS Experimental Flight Center, located in Villacarrillo (Jaen) in Spain, which has an associated airspace that can be segregated for such operations.

The exercises were carried out in two distinct phases. In the first, a drone, called Viewer, flew executing various manoeuvres around the airport, while the Indra MRI P2006T manned aircraft operated simultaneously. Similar to real operations, a controller supervised the situation, providing separation instructions to the two aircraft. An ADS-B receptor provided the drone's remote pilot - which monitors the aircraft from the ground at all times - with position data of both aircraft, thus allowing situational awareness of traffic in the area.

For the second phase of flight, an unmanned helicopter called Logo was used to demonstrate the feasibility of carrying out instrumental approach and landing procedures with vertical guidance based on satellite navigation. The ability of these aircraft to operate at an airport under the same conditions as other aircraft was thus demonstrated.

The project is one of several demonstrations co-funded by the SESAR Joint Undertaking aimed at safely integrating drones into the European ATM system. The outcomes and recommendations from these demonstration activities have been fed into the project definitions for SESAR 2020, the next phase of ATM research and innovation.