Partners Taking BVLOS to New Heights: AATI and End State Solutions Set The Standard for Large UAS Operations

By: Dawn Zoldi

American Aerospace Technologies, Inc. (AATI) and End State Solutions (ESS) have forged a standout partnership that has led Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations into new territory. Together, these two industry leaders have achieved what few others have: authorizing complex commercial pipeline patrol flights for a large oil and gas company through a rare FAA BVLOS 91.113(b) waiver and Section 44807 airworthiness exemption.

This article explores how the combined expertise of AATI’s Tony Dirks and ESS’s Charlton Evans propelled their partnership to the forefront of commercial BVLOS UAS operations. By leveraging the advanced AiRanger platform, they have redefined what’s possible for critical infrastructure monitoring and disaster response. It also examines the regulatory crosswinds introduced by FAA Part 108 and the uncertain future of existing operational waivers, while offering a look at where these pioneering companies aim to go next.

Charlton Evans, Founder and CEO of ESS, brings deep expertise from his years as a Marine Corps Harrier pilot and extensive UAS operations. Evans founded ESS in 2018 specifically to help technology-focused organizations navigate complicated FAA regulatory pathways and accelerate commercial revenue generation. (See prior AG coverage of Evans and ESS).

Tony Dirks, COO of AATI, has spent over two decades in aerospace, UAS and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), in both operations and business development. Dirks, whose early career included law enforcement leadership, now leads AATI’s push for FAA-approved BVLOS operations, as well as building partnerships across commercial and defense sectors.

AATI stands out as a leader in persistent UAS solutions that support critical infrastructure, emergency response and commercial missions. Over its twenty-year history, the company’s expertise has been shaped through early partnerships with NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE), most notably through the AiRanger’s role in the ground-breaking NASA SIO (Systems Integration and Operationalization) demonstration project. 

Over the years, AATI’s proven track record in large-scale infrastructure monitoring, especially in the oil and gas sector, enabled by a rare FAA Section 44807 airworthiness exemptions and 91.113(b) DAA waivers, has solidified its role as a trailblazer in commercial BVLOS operations.

AATI’s flagship AiRanger platform exemplifies advanced engineering. It features integrated radars that provide the DAA capability to make the safety case for the 91.113(b) waiver…an 18-foot wingspan, 10-foot fuselage, a maximum takeoff weight of 220 lbs and the ability to carry payloads up to 40 lbs. In 2025, AATI achieved a major milestone with this large drone: a 24-hour endurance flight with a payload exceeding 5 lbs. This set an industry benchmark for UAS in this category. “Persistence is certainly one [market gap], with our 24-hour capability, that the AiRanger fills,” detailed Dirks. 

The company continues to advance the AiRanger’s capabilities by developing a new hybrid solar-electric variant as part of AATI’s commitment to sustainable, resilient aviation. AATI continues to refine the platform towards “forever persistence,” vital for large-scale infrastructure monitoring and emergency response.

ESS: Navigating Regulatory Complexity

ESS was born from Evans’ recognition that technology-savvy companies often faced hurdles with FAA standards and regulatory language. “We launched End State Solutions for companies eager to get to revenue with new technology but didn’t necessarily understand the FAA or what the right language was,” Evans explained. ESS not only provides technical validation but strategic guidance in obtaining airspace approvals, securing waivers and designing flight compliance for safe, repeatable BVLOS operations. (Watch Charlton Evans on the April 2025 Dawn of Autonomy during “Safety and Standards” Month).

The Power of Partnership: Pioneering BVLOS Pipeline Patrols

The journey to operational BVLOS pipeline patrols in California for AATI and ESS for Chevron was years in the making. it took about five years—from SIO through to the exemption,” Dirks shared, referencing multiple demonstration projects and collaborative data gathering with NASA, the Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

These collaborations enabled the team to conduct demonstration flights that not only advanced technical capabilities but also provided crucial safety and performance data to regulators. PRCI’s involvement connected AATI with stakeholders in pipeline infrastructure to facilitate meaningful research and validation of how UAS could transform pipeline monitoring and inspection. Collaborative data gathering across these projects helped to prove to the FAA and other agencies that long-range BVLOS UAS flights equipped with advanced DAA technologies could be operated safely at industrial scale.

The partners’ BVLOS journey began with the NASA SIO project, which culminated in flight demonstrations in 2020 and early 2021. AATI conducted the AiRanger demonstration as the final partner in February of that final year. 

NASA designed this large-scale demonstration initiative to accelerate the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace system (NAS), particularly for complex missions that require BVLOS operations. The SIO project’s core goal was to showcase how advanced technologies, especially onboard detect and avoid (DAA) systems, could enable UAS to safely operate in shared, controlled airspace to meet both operational and regulatory requirements for commercial missions.

AATI’s AiRanger played a pivotal role in the SIO program. During flight tests, the AiRanger was equipped with sophisticated DAA technologies that allowed real-time detection and avoidance of both cooperative and non-cooperative air traffic, even in dynamically changing environments. By successfully demonstrating long-distance BVLOS flights with reliable DAA in place, the AiRanger provided essential safety data and operational experience that informed both regulators and industry about the feasibility of routine unmanned BVLOS operations. This validation was instrumental in building a sufficient level of FAA confidence which ultimately supported subsequent waivers and exemptions for commercial BVLOS missions, a breakthrough for the future of high-endurance UAS in the NAS.

ESS and AATI’s combined expertise ultimately delivered a flight operation approved for Chevron up to 8,000 ft above sea level. This dramatically expanded airspace access compared to conventional drone rules. Data from these missions not only ensures safer infrastructure and disaster management but creates scalable models for markets ranging from oil and gas to agriculture, environmental surveys and maritime operations.

“Data is generally the product,” said Evans. “How efficiently we can gather it—and how we mitigate the risks of gathering it with manned aircraft today—that’s the niche BVLOS fills.”

Navigating Tomorrow: Part 108 Regulatory Uncertainty

The pending FAA Part 108 rule, which will govern unmanned aircraft under 1,320 lbs flying below 400 feet, will set new standards for airworthiness, DAA, cyber requirements and operational procedures. Evans, an active contributor to industry discussions, addressed the seismic shift. He said, “There are thousands of comments being drafted up for Part 108. Everybody wants it to end up right, or as good as it can be, on the first pass.”

The FAA’s stance on waivers and grandfathering in existing exemptions remains a point of debate and uncertainty of concern to these partners. (See Evan’s AG OpEd on industry first movers and Part 108). “In my article, I talk about grandfathering and how operations that have been demonstrated to be safe are still safe going forward, even when the rules change,” Evans explained. However, “The bottom line is, we don’t really know right now. Once 108 comes into effect, we’re going to sunset those other things and expect people now to start complying with 108 in some respect.”

Both ESS and AATI acknowledge the gaps and challenges ahead. “There’s no real one good answer,” Dirks observed of regulatory impact, “but there’s just a big range—scale, volume—that’s really what gets that ROI and that business case lined up,” he emphasized, noting that AATI has the pedigree and record to succeed in BVLOS.

In furtherance of AATI’s BVLOS excellence, in early 2026, the company will execute on a NASA contract to deploy AiRanger platforms for active wildfire data collection. “This contract is going to put us in the air flying active fires during the first quarter of next year, deploying various sensors, detecting particulates in the air, and observing ground patterns. It’s in support of NASA’s Fire Sense program. Their mission is to improve detection, monitoring, and response through advanced aerial surveillance,” Dirks explained.

The ongoing project seeks to leverage UAS data to improve climate resilience strategies for government and industry partners. “There’s a real push to integrate commercial UAS into that realm, to get faster, safer, more cost-effective climate-related things such as wildfires understood and responded to best,” added Dirks.

What’s Else Is Next for ESS and AATI

Looking ahead, AATI will be ramping up solar-electric platforms through a partnership with eFusion X, including international projects with persistent, sustainable flight capabilities. “That’s going to provide some differentiation and incredible opportunity,” Dirks commented.

For its part, ESS continues to streamline regulatory pathways for operators and manufacturers. Evans said the company plans to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in supporting compliance and accelerating safe, scalable operations. “If we can use AI to navigate that much more efficiently, that’s a benefit to us and our customers,,” Evans elaborated. “Part 108 is not going to make things easier [from a compliance perspective], standards are just going to be more known,” Evans added. “We’ll still have plenty of work solving hard problems in the regulatory landscape.

ESS and AATI provide us all an example of what’s possible when aviation expertise, technical innovation and regulatory stewardship meet. Their combined relentless focus on safe BVLOS operations, demonstrated over years of collaboration, set new standards for how UAS can serve key industries, from oil and gas to wildfire response. 

Dirks emphasized the unique value, and enduring nature, of the AATI and ESS collaboration. “A lot of those other efforts that have come and gone over the years have tried to do everything themselves—make their own equipment, their own transponder, their own radar. I don’t think any of those things have been very successful. Partnership and doing it together—that’s just a reality,” he said.

Even as the regulatory future remains in flux, these partners remain committed to lead-turning solutions, proving what’s possible and paving the way for the next chapter of commercial UAS…together.

Watch Tony Dirks and Charlton Evans on their recent Dawn of Autonomy “Bigger and Better” Month episode.