Air Force looks for machine autonomy to enable UAVs and piloted aircraft to work and play well together

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/index/display/article-display/0434182172/articles/military-aerospace-electronics/volume-21/issue-8/news/news/air-force_looks_for.html

U.S. Air Force researchers are asking industry to develop autonomous control technologies that will enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate together with piloted aircraft in congested airport terminal areas, and to achieve what the Air Force calls "same base, same time, same tempo" operations.

Scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, have released a broad agency announcement (BAA-10-05-PKV) for the Autonomous Control of UAS Ground Operations in the Terminal Area program. The goal of the program is to enable UAVs to operate with manned aircraft by equipping unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to act autonomously and react like a manned aircraft so they can navigate the terminal area alongside manned commercial and general aviation aircraft. The emphasis of this program is on ground operations, according to U.S. Air Force officials.