International experts discuss progress and challenges for integrating remotely piloted aircraft into European airspace

On 17-18 February 2026, the SESAR JU IRINA project organised a workshop at EUROCONTROL bringing together participants from 35 countries, highlighting the strong international interest in integrating remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) into controlled airspace. The discussions focused on the results of recent validation activities examining operational procedures, safety nets and Detect and Avoid (DAA) capabilities across different airspace environments. Overall, the validation results indicate that DAA functions are expected to meet the safety and operational requirements needed to support RPAS operations in controlled airspace, suggesting that such capabilities will likely become part of future regulatory frameworks for safe integration.

The workshop also highlighted several operational and technical challenges that must be addressed before RPAS can operate routinely alongside manned aviation. In particular, the reliability and performance of the command-and-control (C2) link was identified as a critical issue, with concerns related to latency, link loss and the absence of clearly defined performance requirements. Participants emphasised that robust and resilient communication links, supported by redundancy and strengthened regulatory expectations for service providers, will be essential for safe operations. Validation activities also demonstrated the value of enhanced ground-based safety nets-such as adapted short-term conflict alerts-and advanced DAA concepts, which can improve conflict detection and support air traffic controllers in maintaining safe separation.

Discussions further explored the integration of RPAS in lower-density airspace classes (D, E and G), where traffic can include aircraft that do not broadcast their position. Validation exercises combining fast-time simulations, real-time simulations and flight tests showed promising results but also revealed challenges related to detecting non-cooperative aircraft, managing atypical RPAS flight patterns and ensuring effective coordination with air traffic control. Participants highlighted the need for continued work on encounter models, system performance validation and the development of harmonised procedures and training for both air traffic controllers and remote pilots. The workshop concluded that while significant progress has been made, further research, standardisation and regulatory development will be needed to enable the safe and scalable integration of RPAS in European airspace.

Read full workshop summary report

View presentations from Day 1 and Day 2 of the workshop