European Union officials awarded a $26 million grant to that effect last December, which the Swedish company SAAB got approval to announce on Feb. 19. The European Detect and Avoid System (EUDAAS) effort is one of a raft of initiatives under the European Defence Industrial Development Program, which spreads seed money far and wide on the continent in search of promising defense technology.
The collision-avoidance project for drones goes after the problem of replicating the human ability to make the right decisions during dicey mid-air situations. Having such technology certified by the relevant European authorities is still a bit of an open race. For example, U.S. contractor General Atomics hopes to be first to the market here by way of add-on technology to its drones, while Airbus has said its French-German Eurodrone would be designed with such safety features built in from the start.
The Eurodrone, developed by Airbus, Dassault and Leonardo, will serve as a test platform for the new collision-avoidance technology, according to Saab. Engineers will also test it on lower-flying, tactical drones.
The defense ministries of Sweden, Italy, Germany, France and Spain are the governmental backers of the EUDAAS program. On the industry and research side, Saab is joined in the consortium by the Italian Aerospace Research Center, Diehl Defence, the German Aerospace Center, Hensoldt, Airbus Defence and Space, Indra, Leonardo, Safran Electronics and Defense, Thales, Onera and Eurocontrol.