The US Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) has selected Volansi’s VOLY C10 for Site Acceptance Testing and use-case development for North Dakota’s statewide beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) network. This aircraft will test installed network components, ensure safety and reliability of the network, perform use-case development flights, and help NPUASTS set the standard requirements for any aircraft seeking to fly on the network, says a NPUASTS press release.
North Dakota’s statewide BVLOS network will enable UAS (or drone) BVLOS flights across the state of North Dakota. Three leading aviation infrastructure companies – Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies Company; L3Harris Technologies; and Thales USA – were selected to work with NPUASTS to develop and employ the physical infrastructure of this first-of-its-kind network. Ensuring the safety and reliability of this network, as it is built out, will be essential.
The selected UAS is expected to allow for integrating different technologies, such as Command and Control (C2) links or onboard Detect and Avoid (DAA). It also includes the ability to support different payloads to exercise goals/objectives of the different use cases. The VOLY C10 is in process to obtain an FAA durability and reliability type certification.
“We’ve talked about North Dakota’s statewide BVLOS network as a turnkey product. Extensive testing and validation of the system during development is part of that,” said Nicholas Flom, executive director of NPUASTS. “The network will be widely accessible to support public and commercial use cases because of this testing.”
Hannan Parvizian, CEO and Co-Founder of Volansi. “Not only does this state-driven initiative position North Dakota as a leader in BVLOS operations, it also supports the growth of unmanned aviation by creating a viable model that could be adopted across the country – and maybe even the world.”
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