uAvionix, BT, Skyfarer and Intelligent Energy have collaborated on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS demonstration) flights between Snowdonia Aerospace Centre’s Llanbedr Airfield and the offshore D217 danger areas in Barmouth Bay, Wales.
uAvionix’s SkyLine Command and Control (C2) system provided assured multi-datalink, multi-path long-range C2 capabilities, combining C-Band aviation-protected spectrum, BT’s Drone SIM and Starlink’s low earth orbit satcom.
The UAV hexacopter, weighing 25kg, was powered by Intelligent Energy’s IE-SOAR hydrogen fuel cell system. It also incorporated uAvionix muLTElink-5060 Airborne Radio System Link Executive Manager, providing multi-datalink Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) C2 capabilities over C-Band, cellular (using BT’s Drone SIM in the muLTElink-5060) and low earth orbit satcom (via a Starlink mini connected to the muLTElink-5060).
Skyfarer provided the operational approval, flight planning, flight crew and operations support, including integrating the uAvionix SkyLine C2 system with its ground control system and setting up the uAvionix SkyStation5060-POE Ground Radio System. The uAvionix SkyLine system also received a traffic feed from the uAvionix FlightLine ADS-B surveillance system. This included data from the uAvionix FlightStation dual-frequency (1090MHz & 978MHz) ADS-B receiver hosted by Llanbedr Tower, plus an additional FlightStation set up by Skyfarer, which passed local traffic information to FlightLine.
uAvionix said the flights “successfully demonstrated seamless handover between datalinks, maintaining C2 integrity even in challenging coastal environments”.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority is currently consulting on a C2 Link Policy Concept for SAIL 1 to 3 and plans to consult on a C2 Link Policy Concept for SAIL 4 to 6 in due course.
For more information
