Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight
A capability of cooperative and coordinated flight operations founded on a platform of secure digital information exchange, distributed authority, and intelligent onboard automation for flight path management in four dimensions (lateral, vertical, & time) to promote ubiquitous, safe, seamless, and efficient airspace utilization for all operators and with flexible architectures that enable operators to achieve their unique and diverse mission objectives with minimal restriction.
Operate From Anywhere
A substantial expansion of the locations and operational conditions under which vehicles can access the National Airspace System, including expanded use of the nation’s existing uncontrolled aerodromes and flexible creation of new temporary and permanent aerodromes with minimal required permanent infrastructure, and support for low-visibility and high demand operations.
Intelligent and Adaptive Automation
Collective learning and dynamic information processing that augments operations and optimization of shared resources, with built-in resilience through intelligent and adaptive automation and applications, such as enhanced weather forecasting and predictive routing efficiency.
In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance
A broad range of safety systems that proactively mitigate risks and demonstrate innovative solutions while ultimately ensuring safety to the community on the ground and in the airspace, employing services, functions, and capabilities that perform comprehensive monitoring and communication of the aviation system state, assessment of elevated risks, and mitigation actions to assure safety.
Micro-Services for Flight Operators
A diverse marketplace of appropriately authorized service providers distributed throughout the aviation ecosystem supporting flight operations with a wide range of micro-services to meet the varied needs of each operator in the local airspace.
Data and Decision Support Marketplace
A data-and-reasoning fabric providing an open virtual ecosystem of secured software infrastructure, tools, protocols, governance and policies to implement, manage and operate data sharing and reasoning services across the entire span of mobility for real-time decision support.
Digital Airspace
A capability of airspace and air traffic management founded on a platform of digital information and automation to promote safe, seamless, and flexible airspace utilization for all operators and considers airspace constraints dynamically by digital means to ensure system performance and safety.
We envision two community groups, day of use and contributing. Contributing stakeholders perform research, development, and implementation to ensure the day of use stakeholders are successful.
Day of Use Stakeholders
Contributing Stakeholders
Planning
A continual stream of flight requests is submitted by aviation customers for their travel or business. On a continuing basis, flight operators process these requests into aggregated on-demand flight activities, which launch day and night.
The Digital Airspace capability maintains a dynamic view of airspace resource constraints and ensures restrictions are minimized to give flight operators maximum flexibility.
Each operator defines optimized flight paths based on factors for environmental, economic, and social impact analyzed by Intelligent and Adaptive Automation.
Operation
Operators use Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight to reoptimize flight paths based on the dynamically evolving operating environment and communicate updates of their operational intent via Digital CNS Infrastructure. Digital Airspace adjusts airspace restrictions dynamically and proactively. Micro-Services for Flight Operators providers facilitate operational logistics.
Real-time data from the Data and Decision Support Marketplace enables dynamic, well-informed, and automated decision making. In real time, operators are informed by Micro-Services for Flight Operators of unexpected weather that require alternative routing. These challenges are managed effectively using Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight to equitably share the airspace even under highly scaled-up demand. In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance proactively maintains flight safety throughout the airspace.
Operators confirm flight intent and expected arrival times through the Data and Decision Support Marketplace.
Success
Operators and service providers worked collaboratively on flight planning and execution to factor in airport dynamics, aircraft performance and capabilities, active and predictive weather, and to improve the efficiency of each flight. Intelligent and Adaptive Automation learns from this process to further improve future flights and the airspace system overall.
Travelers and cargo arrive safely and efficiently, with little awareness of the integrated operator and airspace capabilities that make it an everyday experience.
Seamless collaboration between Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight and Digital Airspace enables the most efficient flights, the fewest constraints, and the lowest greenhouse gas emissions for aviation.
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