The FAB CE U-space Coordination Group (UCG) staged its first integrated U-space proof-of-concept demonstration at the Port of Rijeka on 5 October, combining full U-space services, Dynamic Airspace Reconfiguration (DAR) and a drone detection unit over a commercial 5G network.

The event drew on a six-party support team: Croatia Control, the Port of Rijeka Authority, drone manufacturer ORQA, the Croatian Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency. The AMC Portal software, built by Omniaspect under Croatia Control's direction, anchored the digital environment.

What did the demonstration actually cover?

UCG designed the Rijeka trial as a single integrated test bed, not a series of standalone exercises. Three layers ran in parallel:

• U-space services: registration, identification, geofencing, flight planning, tracking and telemetry for multiple automated drone flights
• Dynamic Airspace Reconfiguration: live reconfiguration of drone operating volumes to accommodate instrument approach procedures and helicopter emergency medical services
• Drone detection: a dedicated unit that flagged unknown or potentially unauthorised traffic for the operators

UCG said the proof of concept provides "practical evidence to inform future operational U-space implementation" and pointed to cooperation between air navigation services, civil and military authorities, drone manufacturers and technology providers as the central value proposition.

Why 5G is doing real work here

Pushing UAS command-and-control, telemetry and counter-UAS detection over a commercial mobile network is a deliberate architectural choice. Rijeka uses 5G to carry the connectivity layer that U-space operations have historically required aviation-grade links to deliver.

The source does not name the mobile network operator providing 5G coverage at the port, nor does it publish throughput, latency or coverage statistics. That matters: a credible commercial U-space story usually carries an MNO attachment and at least one measured QoS figure to separate operator deployment from vendor marketing.

Vendor and airspace context

ORQA supplied the airframes, Omniaspect the integration software, and Croatia Control the operational oversight. Croatia Control sits inside FAB CE, the Functional Airspace Block Central Europe initiative that groups several central European ANSPs into a single upper-airspace bloc, and the UCG itself operates under that FAB CE umbrella.

The trial sits at the interface between commercial port operations, civil aviation, defence and interior ministry oversight. Croatian Civil Aviation Agency involvement is the standard regulatory hook for any U-space activity in EU-aligned airspace, but the source does not cite a specific implementing regulation or any U-space airspace designation.

What changes for operators and vendors?

For ANSPs, the Rijeka result suggests that fusing U-space services, dynamic reconfiguration and counter-UAS detection into a single digital platform is operationally feasible. For mobile operators, the open question is whether commercial 5G can deliver the reliability and latency that future certified U-space services will demand.

ORQA and Omniaspect, both based in the region, gain a reference deployment at a major Adriatic port. Whether that translates into follow-on FAB CE contracts, exports to other U-space common information service providers, or permanent airspace designation at Rijeka is not addressed in the source.

What to watch next

UCG said the proof of concept will feed into operational U-space implementation across the FAB CE bloc. The next milestones to track: which mobile operator signs on for the follow-on trials, whether the AMC Portal architecture is reused across other FAB CE member states, and how Croatia's regulator translates the Rijeka results into permanent U-space airspace designation.