Autonomous flight
Towards a world of more autonomous air travel
Pioneering automated flight systems
PUTTING SAFETY FIRST
Over the last 100 years, as the aerospace industry has emerged, evolved and improved, automation and autonomous technologies have played a key role in helping us increase the safety of our products and their operational efficiency.
Assisting flight operations safely and efficiently
Emerging technologies, systems and solutions, assist flight operations in a crucial role: they are the tools that will enable the aerospace industry and its customers to thrive long into the future and they are equally essential to our vision: “to pioneer sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world.“
Whatever the level of “autonomy” (from automation systems to fully autonomous vehicles), we use these technologies to keep our products state of the art, improving the human/machine interface. We adapt the level of automation according to the market segments, products, environment and expected benefits to reach our shared goal: the safest and most efficient operations.
According to what we aim to achieve and the market expectations, we see the potential for diverse applications of autonomy, and we are preparing safety and operational improvements for all products as a result. Further, sustainability is a key driver for Airbus as well as a responsibility of both today's society and businesses. As we continue to grow and innovate as both an industry and an organisation, sustainability is a priority across our products with autonomy as a vital contributor to the future success of our market.
Our projects
Autonomous air-to-air refuelling
Auto'Mate
This demonstrator develops, adapts and evaluates technologies enabling autonomous air-to-air refuelling in formation flight operations. It will consist of in-flight testing of the key technologies - focusing on three technological bricks that are accurate relative navigation, in-flight communication and cooperative control algorithm - in order to pave the way to a future autonomous assets air-to-air refuelling product.
DeckFinder
This local positioning system enables manned and remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS) to determine their relative position in the harshest environmental conditions. The independent navigation system contributes to easier and safer take-off and landing procedures in GPS-shaded environments that lack reference points or visual cues.
AirSense
Enhanced situational awareness and advanced analytics for better decision making in aviation; anticipating operations, increasing fuel savings and safer sky, easy to consume data.
Our projects
Vertex
Through this project, autonomous features are introduced to the helicopters Flightlab. These technologies aim to simplify mission preparation and management, reduce helicopter pilot workload, and further increase safety.
extended Minimum Crew Operation (eMCO)
Extended Minimum Crew Operations (previously CONNECT project) enables the flight crew to better organise their presence in the cockpit during the cruise phase thanks to additional automated functions.
Wayfinder
This Acubed project builds scalable, certifiable autonomy systems that power self-piloted aircraft applications throughout Airbus, from small urban aerial vehicles to large commercial aircraft.
Optimate
Our projects
This demonstrator is testing new technologies to support automatic taxiing and enhance pilot assistance at airports. The three-year research project combines a wide range of cutting-edge technologies and is being tested onboard an innovative electric truck, before performing a fully automated gate-to-gate mission on an A350 flight test aircraft.
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UAS
UAS solutions for military and commercial applications
The latest in autonomous flight
In the spotlight
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Press releases Innovation
New pilot assistance technologies take to the road with Airbus' Optimate demonstrator
New pilot assistance technologies take to the road with Airbus' Optimate demonstrator -
Stories Defence
Aerial refuelling without human intervention
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Press releases Defence
Airbus achieves in-flight autonomous guidance and control of a drone from a tanker…
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Stories Innovation
Could the humble dragonfly help pilots during flight?
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Press releases Innovation
Airbus concludes ATTOL with fully autonomous flight tests
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Airbus NOVA Newsletter
Your go-to source for the latest stories on disruptive technologies and ground-breaking aerospace projects that will transform the way we fly.
