global briefing
Boeing to
test drones
at new
Australian
facility
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AerospaceTestingInternational.com
Amultimillion commercial drone
flight testing facility at Cloncurry
Airport in Queensland, Australia is
set to open next year with The Boeing
Company as its first user.
Construction of the testing facility,
which is being funded by an AU$14.5
million (US$10 million) investment from
local government, is expected to begin
early next year with operations
commencing later in 2020.
The initial investment will cover
construction of the first stage of the
facility, including a hangar, operations
room and surveillance radar and
communications equipment. The
center will test small-to-medium sized
drones weighing between 30-150kg
over distances of 25km along a
designated flight path.
Shane Arnott, Boeing’s director of
Phantom Works International said the
company is looking forward to using
the flight test facility in 2020 to safely
and securely test the latest advances
in unmanned systems technology.
Arnott said, “The creation of one of
the world’s largest commercial
unmanned flight test facilities is critical
to establishing Australia as a global
leader in autonomous technology.”
The opening of the drone flight
testing centre in Queensland follows
// Testing in Australia will aid
the development of the Loyal
Wingman operational concept
an announcement earlier this year by
Boeing that it will develop the Loyal
Wingman demonstrator in Australia.
Loyal Wingman is a so-called
“teaming” concept, where a drone
supports and extends piloted aircraft
during military missions.
Boeing Australia has already fielded
a team of 15 autonomous testbed
aircraft to refine systems required for
teaming, such as autonomous control
algorithms, data fusion, object
detection systems, and collision
avoidance behaviors.
Earlier this month, the company
announced it had reached a significant
milestone with its first autonomous
teamed flights involving high
performance jets:
Boeing said it will be testing high
performance airborne testbeds at
Cloncurry as part of an autonomy R&D
program, the results of which will
contribute to prototypes, such as the
Loyal Wingman – Advanced
Development Program.
The Minister for state development
responsible for the Queensland Drone
Strategy, Cameron Dick, said, “We have
secured the world’s largest aerospace
group, Boeing, to be the first to conduct
trials at the facility, creating a new
aerospace industry for the region.” \\
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