Echodyne announced that it has received a commodity jurisdiction (CJ) determination from the US State Department for its EchoFlight radar. The CJ determination classifies the EchoFlight radar as a commercial product exportable under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) rather than the more restrictive International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) that apply to military items.

This will enable the company to offer its groundbreaking air-to-air radar to US companies that employ non-US nationals and to non-US companies, promoting growth and safety of the commercial UAS market globally.

The key to unlocking the potential of the commercial UAS industry is the ability for UAS to fly beyond visual line of sight and, eventually, autonomously. But to safely fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), commercial UAS must be able to detect and avoid other aircraft and obstacles.

For manned aircraft, the pilot performs this function. For unmanned aircraft, there needs to be a technological solution supported by an appropriate regulatory framework. EchoFlight radar offers the technology solution.

EchoFlight radar is an airborne detect and avoid radar designed for integration into a wide-variety of commercial UAS platforms and provides unprecedented combination of cost, size, weight, power, range, and accuracy. It is a key component to enable commercial UAS to complete missions safely.

“This approval is of tremendous importance to Echodyne, since we have many inquiries from around the world about our radar capabilities,” said Eben Frankenberg, CEO of Echodyne.

Echodyne’s innovative high-performance software-defined radar sensors are built on patented MESA technology and provide high-resolution 3-D situational awareness data for autonomous vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, critical infrastructure security, and smart cities.