Anduril seeks FAA approval to fly new CP-200 remotely piloted aircraft

Anduril Industries has filed a petition with the US Federal Aviation Administration seeking approval to begin test flying a new remotely piloted aircraft designated the CP-200. The public version of the document was submitted to the agency on 18 September and appeared in the US Federal Register on 22 September.

According to the filing, the CP-200 is a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft driven by a single small internal combustion reciprocating engine. It is built from carbon fibre in a conventional layout, with a twin-boom tail, and uses wheeled landing gear to take off and land on a runway at the test range. The company places its weight well above 30kg but below 91kg, which falls within the Pentagon's Group 3 category for unmanned aircraft systems.

Anduril has asked to conduct the flights at a closed test facility that is not identified in the public filing. Specifics of the engine, propeller and airframe, along with performance figures such as airspeed, range and endurance, were provided to the FAA in a separate confidential packet. A confidential questionnaire about the aircraft followed on 28 September.

The filing characterises the CP-200 as an aerial integration platform for sensing, computing and communications payloads, and for mission-autonomy engineering. Listed potential uses include developmental and acceptance flight testing, payload and autonomy trials, crew training and currency flights.