Auto-GCAS saves F-16 from CFIT in Syria - Could be in GA and UAV soon

The Air Force F-16D Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology
test aircraft flew at low levels through canyons and past
mountain peaks during ACAT Fighter Risk Reduction Project
testing of collision avoidance technologies that would
reduce the risk of ground collisions for fighter/attack aircraft.

Image Credit: NASA / Carla Thomas

Ground Collision Avoidance System ‘Saves’ First F-16 In Syria | Defense content from Aviation Week
LOS ANGELES – A U.S. Air Force F-16C believed to be taking part in combat operations against Islamic State (ISIS) forces in Syria has become the first to be officially ‘saved’ from certain impact with the ground by the recently fielded Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS).

Details of the incident, believed to have involved an Air Force F-16 operating from Jordan during a air-to-surface attack last Nov. 10, remain unconfirmed. But the Air Force does acknowledge the system saved an aircraft and its pilot. Auto GCAS, which was developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA, has only recently been integrated in to the USAF Block 40/50 fleet by Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Fighter Group. Installation in the Air Force fleet began last September as part of the latest M6.2+ Operational Flight Program (OFP) software update.

The modified "DROID" small unmanned aircraft in the foreground
was used as a test bed for development of a smartphone-enabled
autonomous ground collision avoidance system adapted from
the Auto-GCAS software that was successfully flight-
tested at NASA Dryden on the F-16D behind it in 2010.

Image Credit: NASA / Tony Landis

NASA-Pioneered Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System Operational | NASA
A new government-developed Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) that could significantly reduce the incidence of controlled flight into terrain aircraft accidents is currently being integrated into the flight control systems of the U.S. Air Force's fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft.
The new software, pioneered by a partnership between the Office of the Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, the Air Force Test Center (AFTC) and Lockheed Martin, is expected to have application to a wide variety of civil and military aircraft.
Extensive flight-testing at NASA Armstrong demonstrated that advanced computing technology could significantly reduce the number of accidents attributed to controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), a leading cause of fatalities in both civil and military aviation that results in roughly 100 deaths each year in the United States alone.  Although cockpit-warning systems have virtually eliminated CFIT for large commercial air carriers, the problem still remains for fighter aircraft, helicopters, and general aviation.

Mark Skoog, chief engineer at the Automatic Systems Project Office
at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, is heading up
a team that's developing autonomous ground collision avoidance
systems for aircraft. Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman

Researchers quickly realized that when fully developed and matured, miniaturized Auto-GCAS technology had numerous potential civil and military applications for both crewed and remotely piloted unmanned aircraft. In 2012, project officials at Armstrong adapted Auto-GCAS to a small, unmanned research aircraft and implemented it as a smartphone application using the Android operating system linked to the aircraft’s Piccolo autopilot.
This system was installed in a Dryden Remotely Operated Integrated Drone (DROID) and flown from a remote dry lakebed surrounded by rugged desert terrain. Throughout the test series, the smartphone-assisted autopilot repeatedly executed pull-ups or sharp turns to avoid imminent impact with terrain in the DROID’s flight path.
"The smartphone aboard the aircraft eliminated the need for the ground control station link to be in constant communication with the aircraft," said Skoog. "On these flights the system performed very reliably, consistently initiating recoveries close to the last possible moment, even in the face of numerous losses of communications with the ground control station [including those] right at the critical point of needing to avoid the colliding with the mountain."
The payoff from implementing this technology, designed to operate with only minimal aircraft modifications, could result in billions of dollars and hundreds of lives and aircraft being saved. Furthermore, the technology has the potential to be applied beyond aviation and could be adapted for use in any vehicle that has to avoid a collision threat, including automobiles, spacecraft, and marine systems.
For information on other potential applications of Auto-GCAS please click here: http://1.usa.gov/1t4cExE

Improved Ground Collision Avoidance System | NASA
For use with all classes of aircraft: general aviation, helicopters, UAVs, and fighter jets

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