Ciconia Demonstrates Lightweight Coordination & Collision Avoidance System | Aviation International News

Ciconia C&CAS Demos Coordination, Collision Avoidance

Product enables aircraft to work together with no need for satcom or cellular communications

A drone and helicopter avoid each other — During the demonstration of C&CAS in San Bernardino, the system gave the Robinson R44 helicopter pilot guidance to avoid the Ponderosa FireSparrow Mk10 drone. C&CAS can also steer the drone away if the helicopter comes too close. © AIN/Matt Thurber

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

August 31, 2026

During a demonstration by the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District on August 12, a Ponderosa FireSparrow Mk10 drone and two Robinson R44 helicopters equipped with Ciconia’s vehicle-to-vehicle Coordination & Collision Avoidance System (C&CAS) flew in close proximity. The demonstration in California at the Glen Helen North Training Center was intended to answer a critical question as drones proliferate in airspace heretofore reserved for larger and crewed aircraft.

That question is: instead of trying to restrict operations of certain types of aerial vehicles and arguing about which has the right of way, why not figure out how to allow them to work together (coordination) as well as avoid each other (collision avoidance)?

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