NASA and MITRE have developed a surrogate aircraft to test UAS.
The aircraft is manned, says MITRE's Todd Stock. But it is
designed to accept algorithms and UAS to test systems such as
sense and avoid. One of the main focus of testing is the Federal
Aviation Administration's ADS-B transponder-based aircraft
tracking system - which could provide a solution for airborne
sense and avoid. The aircraft would be used to simulate a UAS
under sense-and-avoid scenario but with a human pilot onboard to
intervene in case of problems. Charles Howell, NASA's program
manager, says it is based on a Cirrus SR-22.