Military drone in civil airspace: Bundeswehr's German Heron TP flies from Schleswig to Leeuwarden

From Schleswig in Germany to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands and back again: this is the route flown by a German Heron TP of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). It was the first flight anywhere in Europe by such a military drone in the upper airspace open to all users. It was carried out within a research project of the European Defence Agency (EDA).

The aim of the project is to be able to route remotely piloted unmanned aircraft through shared airspace when required in future. The project is led by the Institute of Flight Guidance of the German Aerospace Center (DLR); the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (Royal NLR) and the Bundeswehr are also involved.

The German Heron TP is a large unmanned platform of the German Air Force, based on the Heron TP from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). With a wingspan of 26 metres, it can fly for more than 24 hours.

After taking off in Schleswig, the drone first climbed in segregated military airspace. It was then handed over to the civil control centre for lower airspace, Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), and to the EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC). Upper airspace begins above 7,500 metres – where airliners cruise; under MUAC control, the drone climbed to 8,500 metres. The route ran along the German coast into Dutch airspace as far as Leeuwarden and then back to Schleswig.

What makes integration into civil airspace difficult

The project “Accommodation and Validation of Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems” (MALE RPAS) is also examining how unmanned flights in civil airspace affect air traffic as a whole. Little experience exists in this area. It is conceivable, for example, that air traffic control will have to be adapted or that the drones will need additional capabilities. To disrupt air traffic as little as possible, the participants agreed on procedures. The different speeds of the aircraft are one difficulty: at this altitude, the German Heron TP is slower than the rest of the traffic.

How the military drone's flight was prepared

Beforehand, the project partners analysed, among other things, how the operation differs from manned aviation, drew up risk analyses and assessed what the unmanned aircraft is capable of. On this basis, the air traffic control units judged whether a safe flight within civil air traffic was feasible. Previous EDA studies had been limited to lower airspace.

Although the German Heron TP is a military aircraft, the participants also have future civil applications in mind. The project results are to provide a framework for similar projects in Europe: it will identify the advantages and disadvantages of adapting and integrating unmanned platforms, as well as ways of closing possible safety gaps.