UAV Integration with PilotAware & Flight Matrix

Why UAV conspicuity matters

Currently the integration of UAVs and Drones into a future airspace is looking pretty bleak. Conflicting views from technologist, industries and regulators around the world is creating a messy, confusing and expensive situation. One where aircraft and drones still can't cooperate together.

At the heart of the problem is simple: most drones can’t see GA aircraft, and most pilots can’t see drones.

While the rest of the world argues about standards, bands and protocols, we thought we'd just get on with it and issue our own spin.

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The Challenges Being Faced Right Now.

Regulators have pushed for legacy certified EC devices with high-power transmitters. But in practice these:

• Growing risk of close encounters between drones and light aircraft.
• Limited traffic awareness in most drone control systems.
• Fragmented or High Latency data feeds that don't suit low-level UAV operations.
• Regulatory pressure from BVLOS, SORA, and U-Space requirements.
• The Use of legacy EC hardware preferred by regulators that is costly, power-hungry, and easily blocked by terrain

Drone operators need a lighter, more scalable way to be electronically conspicuous.

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The PilotAware solution

• UAV data feed → PilotAware network: Drone position is securely sent from the operator to the PilotAware servers.
• Dynamic ICAO assignment: Every UAV gets a unique ICAO HEX ID, so it appears just like any other aircraft.
• ATOM/GRID uplink: Our UK-wide ground station network redistributes local traffic (within ~20 km) back to the UAV with latency under 100 ms.
• No new drone hardware needed: It works via IP integration, so no additional hardware is required.
• EFB integration: GA pilots see UAVs in the cockpit having been received by their PilotAware device.

An optional on-board Graffiti Beacon, currently in development, will add a short-range transmission path for redundancy in areas with limited network coverage.

UAV integration in action

Here’s a snapshot from recent trials with Flight Matrix:

Flight Matrix connected its drone telemetry feed directly into the PilotAware system using a simple software interface.

Each UAV’s position, altitude, track, and speed were formatted in the standard PilotAware UAV data schema.

The network then returned real-time traffic updates covering all known EC targets within a 50 km radius.

No new drone hardware was required. The integration worked entirely through existing telemetry channels.

Benefits of PilotAware UAV integration

• Drone operators → Improved safety margins for BVLOS and multi-drone operations.

• Manned pilots → real-time alerts for UAV traffic in their EFBs
• Rapid Setup time → Minimal cost and complexity achieved entirely through software integration.

Conclusion: UAVs and manned aviation can share the skies

The partnership between Flight Matrix and PilotAware shows how modern, network-based EC can safely integrate drone operations into shared airspace without the need for expensive on-board equipment.

By using the existing ATOM / iGRID network and real-time data streaming, Flight Matrix has achieved complete visibility of both manned and unmanned traffic. This project sets a strong example for scalable, connected drone operations across the UK and beyond.

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📩 Want to integrate your UAV fleet? Contact us at contact@pilotaware.com