Modeling and Simulation for UAS Integration into the United States National Airspace System and NextGen

Airspace integration is a major challenge that must be addressed for wider unmanned aircraft system (UAS) acceptance and one-day ubiquitous operations. Both research and training play a role in addressing these challenges, which are cross-disciplinary. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is heavily invested in promoting the safe integration of UAS into both the United States National Airspace System (NAS) as well its future under the FAA NextGen programs planned upgrades. This paper surveys ERAUs use of modeling and simulation (M&S) to address the relevant challenges including development of flight management systems (FMS) for UAS to operate amongst manned air traffic, the development of aircraft performance models for various UAS categories, the application of simulator technologies to UAS flight crew training, and the creation of virtual labs to provide realistic training experience for UAS system configuration and testing.