Digital flight rules

The main goal of this opportunity is to advance the development of digital flight rules, a new concept designed to complement existing flight rules and support a highly automated air traffic management environment. The focus is on analyzing how certified on-board systems can be integrated for vigilance and collision avoidance, assessing human performance aspects for pilots, and evolving international frameworks to enable these changes. This opportunity targets research and innovation projects that help shape future airspace operations. Thematic areas include automation, human factors, and regulatory evolution for digital aviation.

• Build on previous SESAR projects (e.g. PJ.13, PJ.13-W2, IRINA) to develop the concept of "digital flight rules".

• Focus on aircraft operating in environments with cooperative surveillance (i.e. all aircraft equipped to share position info).

• Propose a ruleset complementary to VFR and IFR, applicable to both crewed and uncrewed certified aircraft.

• Enable on-board systems to:

• Replace out-the-window vigilance (per ICAO Annex II) using certified equipment (e.g., CDTI).
• Perform manoeuvres to remain well clear under Annex II right-of-way rules, especially in airspace with limited or no ATC separation.

• Explore whether non-cooperative traffic detection may be needed in some environments (especially for uncrewed aircraft).

• Ensure digital flight rules are compatible with VFR and IFR, do not require visual meteorological conditions, and can support horizontal guidance (e.g., per ED-271).

• Propose a full operational concept and describe needed changes to ICAO Annex II and Annex XI, including flight planning and airspace classification.

• Include an initial assessment of human performance for on-board and remote pilots.

• Analyse how the broader ICAO framework (e.g. Annexes 10, 11; Docs 4444, 8168, 9771, 10056) must evolve to support highly automated ATM environments.

• Consider shifting some controller functions to certified ATC ground systems, e.g.:

• Automated CPDLC handling.
• Automatic ATC clearances without human validation.
• Moving from voice to CPDLC as the main communication method.

• Assess the impact on human operator roles in air traffic management.

• Personnel costs for research and innovation activities
• Costs for developing and testing certified on-board systems
• Expenses for human performance studies and pilot assessments
• Software and hardware purchases directly related to project objectives
• Travel and subsistence costs for project meetings and dissemination events
• Subcontracting costs for specialized tasks
• Dissemination and communication activities
• Data management and analysis services
• Costs for updating or proposing regulatory documentation
• Indirect costs, as included in the lump sum

Restrictions: All expenses must be directly related to the project objectives and comply with lump sum funding rules.

• Budget for this Call: 10,000,000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 1
• Maximum value per project: 10,000,000€
• Minimum value per project: 500,000€

• Applicants must be established in an eligible country as defined in the programme annexes.
• Proposals must comply with all admissibility and eligibility conditions, including page limits and layout requirements.
• Applicants must have sufficient financial and operational capacity to carry out the project.
• Projects must not compromise the protection of European communication networks.
• Proposals must address the evaluation and award criteria outlined in the programme documents.
• Grants are awarded as lump sums, and beneficiaries must agree to dissemination and exploitation requirements.
• Eligibility may depend on forming networks or partnerships, as is common in Horizon Europe projects.