CAP 3266 Test & Evaluation Annual Report 2025-2026

The Test and Evaluation (T&E) Team has completed its second year supporting the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) mission of protecting people and enabling aerospace.

Specifically the team has accomplished this through helping industry conduct testing safely, and by gathering data from innovative operations to inform new policy development.

Building on the foundations established in 2024-25, the team has moved from process building to delivery at scale. Data collection is now a mature, business-as-usual function, the number and variety of operations providing data to the CAA has grown significantly, and the team has published its first major policy output in Civil Aviation Publication (CAP)

The three strategic priority areas that defined year one continue to guide the team’s work:

CAA-Driven Data and Intelligence Gathering – The team has substantially expanded its data collection activity. There are Temporary Reserved Area (TRA) sandbox projects with Airspection, Amazon, Matternet, NPAS, Snowdonia Aerospace Centre and Wing, and 11 Atypical Air Environment (AAE) operators who have agreed to provide or are currently providing data. We’ve worked closely with internal policy teams across C2 (Command and Control) Link, Electronic Conspicuity (EC), Detect and Avoid (DAA), Ground Infrastructure (GI), and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), to ensure that operational data we’re
receiving is addressing their testing requirements and can be used in policy development.

The team has also supported CAA work on airspace characterisation.

Additionally, the team has strengthened its data analytics capability by establishing robust processes for storing, analysing, and generating insights. This includes the development of an in-house data analytical tool which in future will enable largescale data processing, reducing turnaround times from weeks to days or even hours, significantly improving policy responsiveness.

Facilitation and Support of T&E Operations – The team has continued to support industry operators in obtaining the necessary authorisations and approvals to conduct trials safely, providing technical and regulatory guidance across a range of projects and contributing to the CAA’s broader strategic objectives.

Enabling Industry Testing – The publication of CAP 3145, the UAS Operations at Test Sites Policy Concept, will help enable scalable test and evaluation activities at UK sites by providing industry with a streamlined route to authorisation that reduces
operator burden and CAA processing time. Focused initially on SAIL (Specific Assurance and Integrity Level) 2 operations, the policy concept has already been CAP 3266 revised once to broaden its scope, and four test sites have now been pre-assessed
and approved.

Moreover, the T&E team is working with Military Aviation Authority (MAA), Ministry of Defence (MOD), and industry with an aim to develop a guidance on dual use of UAS and associated technologies.