Harris Corporation to Help Develop First US Beyond-Visual-Line-Of-Sight Network for Drone Operations
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has received a two-year grant to help develop a first-of-its-kind solution to enable beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Harris will partner with the University of North Dakota and the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to develop the network infrastructure system under a Research North Dakota grant awarded by the North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission.
Harris is working to create aviation-grade network services infrastructure that is scalable to the whole state of North Dakota, and eventually to the entire U.S. Developing this high-performance networked infrastructure will help accelerate regulatory approval of BVLOS UAS operations. “The use of UAS for business operations – such as remotely monitoring power lines, farms, and rail tracks – represents the future for many organizations,” said George Kirov, vice president and general manager, Commercial UAS Solutions, Harris Electronic Systems. “Harris is applying the same innovation and expertise that made us a leader in manned aircraft air traffic management solutions to integrate commercial UAS operations into the National Airspace System.” As the project continues, Harris expects to test scenarios including railway inspection, roadway inspection, transmission line inspection, precision agriculture, public safety and emergency services, expanded flight operations, and more.