The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has entered into a Pathfinder agreement with CACI International Inc. to evaluate how the company’s technology can help detect unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the vicinity of airports.

In testimony before the House Aviation Subcommittee, FAA Deputy Administrator Mike Whitaker said that flying an unmanned aircraft near a busy airfield poses an "unacceptable safety hazard." During the hearing, Whitaker told the congressional panel the FAA signed an agreement in early Octobere to assess the safety and security capabilities of CACI’s product within a five-mile radius of airports, and the agency also will collaborate with its government partners.

The FAA says that a "steep increase" in reports of small unmanned aircraft in close proximity to runways is presenting a "new challenge." The FAA says that a "steep increase" in reports of small unmanned aircraft in close proximity to runways is presenting a "new challenge" for the FAA. It is the agency’s responsibility to identify possible gaps in safety and address them before an incident occurs.

The CACI partnership is part of the larger UAS Pathfinder Program, which the FAA announced in May 2015. Pathfinder is a framework for the agency to work with industry to explore the next steps in unmanned aircraft operations beyond those proposed in February in the draft small UAS rule.

The agreement provides a way to passively detect, identify and track UAS – or aerial drones – and their ground-based operators, in order to protect airspace from inadvertent or unlawful misuse of drones near U.S. airports. CACI’s prototype UAS sensor detection system will be evaluated at airports selected by the FAA. The agency and its federal government partners will work with the company to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology, while also working to ensure that it does not interfere with the safety and security of normal airport operations.