Overview of Flight Tests Using iNET RF Network

Abstract

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. has been researching on two-way communication using iNET since 2014. We started to conduct performance tests in 2015. Firstly, we used a tethered aerostat to evaluate our system in stable conditions. In this step, we got results as expected, and we moved to the next step, flight tests using aircrafts. For the first 2 years, we had struggled to demonstrate the performance due to some problems of our ground facility, etc. But finally, we successfully demonstrated our two-way communication system in 2018. After that, we began considering that our system can be applicable not only to the flight test but also to the field of disaster prevention and rescue. From this point of view, we integrated a 4K video transmission function which we think is useful for assessing the detailed conditions of affected areas into our system. This result was presented at ITC 2022. In this paper, we describe the summary of these test results and the future plans.