The European Defence Agency (EDA) has contracted a consortium of defence and aerospace companies to develop a “road map” for integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into European airspace by 2015.

The €500,000 contract, awarded to the Air4All consortium, aims to develop specific projects that address commercial and defence uses of UAVs to enable them to routinely fly alongside other air traffic, as well as aid interest groups such as civil aviation authorities, air traffic management procurement agencies and researchers.

The consortium comprises BAE Systems Operations Platforms Solution, Alenia Aeronautica, Dassault Aviation, Diehl BGT Defence, EADS CASA, EADS Defence & Security Germany, Galileo Avionica, QinetiQ, Rheinmetall Defence Electronics, Saab, Sagem Défense Sécurité and Thales Aerospace.

By staff writer