Testing of VTOL RPAS on Swedish Naval Ship

Major Peter Wallgren, Rotary Wing Chief Test Pilot, FMV Flight Test Centre (FTC), Sweden
Kjell Pettersson, Project Manager, FMV Flight Test Centre (FTC), Sweden

Abstract

The high pace development of unmanned and/or remotely piloted aircraft systems for military and civilian application has created challenges for the airspace regulatory community as well as for the flight testers. T&E and V&V of RPAS, UAV and UCAV-systems will create new challenges for the years to come and in our view for sure shaping the future of flight testing, both in regards of technology development as well as development of new flight test methodologies.

The purpose of this paper is, in the form of a case study, to present test methodologies- and processes developed for and lessons learned from the first ever flight tests with a VTOL RPAS in a naval setting in Sweden.