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Courtesy of NASA/Tom Tschida |
Award-winning Design
The U.S. Air Force’s F-16D Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology (ACAT) aircraft takes off from Edwards Air Force Base on a flight originating from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Centre. Dryden and the Air Force Research Laboratory are collaborating to develop collision avoidance technologies that would reduce the risk of ground and mid-air collisions.
The test aircraft team has won an Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine Laureate Award for its successful development and flight test of an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System. NASA Dryden led the project’s integrated test team, which was responsible for the technical content of the project’s test and evaluation, maintenance of the Air Force’s F-16D test aircraft, project management and engineering services, and provision of the project’s chief pilot.