Canadian UAVs (CUAVs) said on October 6 that it deployed its Sparrowhawk ground-based detect-and-avoid (DAA) system to enable safe beyond visual line of sight flight operations of the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) new CU-179 Peregrine remotely piloted aircraft system.
From 24 August to 4 September 2026, Sparrowhawk fused airspace radar, ADS-B and AIS into a single, continuous air and surface picture of restricted airspace over the Strait of Georgia for CU-179 flights at the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges in Nanoose Bay, British Columbia.
Sparrowhawk holds a Transport Canada Pre-Validated Declaration, giving the RCN a validated DAA foundation for CU-179 operations without having to build a safety case from scratch.
During the deployment, Sparrowhawk detected a low-flying general aviation aircraft transiting the restricted area while transmitting no ADS-B, an aircraft that was visible to radar alone and would not have appeared in a cooperative-only airspace picture.
RCN personnel operated Sparrowhawk directly throughout flight operations, with six RCN operators trained on the system during the deployment.
CUAVs said the RCN deployment demonstrates a pathway for defence forces to access civilian airspace at scale, flying uncrewed aircraft alongside existing traffic without restricting or interrupting the airspace for other users.
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