Before unmanned aircraft systems can be allowed to fly in non-segregated airspace, there is a need for a system that can see and avoid any potential collision threats. The European MidCAS project aims at contributing to find such a solution. The MidCAS consortium consists of 13 leading aviation industries from five countries — Sweden, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Sweden has been appointed the lead nation and has coordination responsibility for the entire project. For Saab's part, the order from the European Defence Agency (EDA) is valued at SEK 105 million.
MidCAS stands for Mid Air Collision Avoidance System and the project's main objective is to develop and demonstrate a sense and avoid system for unmanned aerial vehicles that meet the requirements set for flights in civil airspace. This also includes fulfilling the requirements for "mid-air collision". In addition, the MidCAS project, in cooperation with European aviation organisations will develop technical studies that will lead to establishing a standard in the field of "sense and avoid". The industry consortium composed by 13 companies of the five participating nations is composed by the following companies:
- For Sweden: Saab (coordinator of the consortium)
- For Germany: Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Co. KG, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., EADS Deutschland GmbH, ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH
- For Italy: Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A, Galileo Avionica S.p.A., Italian Aerospace Research Centre CIRA S.c.p.A., SELEX Communications S.p.A, SELEX Sistemi Integrati S.p.A.
- For France: Sagem Défense Sécurité, THALES Systèmes Aéroportés S.A.
- For Spain: Indra Sistemas S.A.