Collins Aerospace Pioneers Drone Innovation with New Irish Flight Initiative

Collins Aerospace has been granted a three-year funding award by the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (EU CINEA) and SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (JU) to establish an unmanned aviation ecosystem in Ireland by delivering a Digital Sky Demonstrator on U-Space.

In collaboration with various Irish aviation enterprises, Collins Aerospace will strive to develop a comprehensive ecosystem at a vertiport in Shannon that facilitates safe operations of unmanned aerial vehicles. The forthcoming ecosystem will utilize a diverse range of products from the Collins Aerospace portfolios to assist both traditional and unmanned aircraft in seamlessly integrating their operations.

The engineering efforts for the ecosystem will be carried out in Ireland and France alongside Future Mobility Campus Ireland, Avtrain, Irish Aviation Authority, Shannon Airport, Manna Drone Delivery, and Deep Blue. These firms from France, Ireland, and Italy have united with Collins as the ÉALÚ-AER (Irish for Escape-Air, Enhanced Automation for U-Space/ATM integration) consortium to foster unmanned aviation and U-Space capabilities, paving the way for the future of air mobility. Such capabilities will subsequently be implemented through SESAR 3 and additional collaborative initiatives across Europe.

“This grant will enable us to collaborate with our partners to generate new prospects in Ireland to promote safe and interconnected unmanned flight,” stated Boe Svatek, Unmanned Systems Value Stream leader for Collins Aerospace.

“As a founding member of SESAR 3 JU, we can proactively assist in its mission to modernize European air traffic management,” he added.

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking represents an established European alliance between private and public sector partners aimed at accelerating the advancement of the Digital European Sky through research and innovation.

Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, is at the forefront of technologically sophisticated and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense sectors. Collins Aerospace possesses extensive capabilities, a wide-ranging portfolio, and deep expertise to tackle customers’ most challenging problems and to satisfy the needs of a swiftly changing global marketplace.