Peter Heasley currently serves as the Technical Director for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Directorate, located at Webster Outlying Field under the parent command of Naval Test Wing Atlantic. Since its formation in October 2010, UASTD has provided the people, skills, processes, facilities, equipment, and flight test knowledge required to support the research, development, test & evaluation, and experimentation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. To date, UASTD has flown more than 1200 sorties on unmanned platforms ranging from RQ-7B Shadow to MQ-8B FireScout in support of Navy, USMC, and external customer test requirements. Prior to being assigned as UASTD’s Technical Director, Mr Heasley served as the Unmanned Air Systems Division Head within the Navy’s

Airworthiness Office (AIR 4.0P). While there, he was responsible for providing airworthiness certifications (i.e. flight clearances) in support of all Navy and Marine Corps unmanned systems. Mr. Heasley has been a member of many United States Delegations to NATO Working Groups, with a primary focus of developing airworthiness standards for both fixed, and rotary-wing UAS intended for flight in non-segregated airspace. Ratified by NATO as STANAG 4671, the airworthiness code that he helped author, represents the first international agreement on UAS airworthiness standards and provides a baseline for future standards as well as international airworthiness partnerships amongst participating NATO nations.

Mr. Heasley has 26 years of engineering and acquisition experience at the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division. He has also served as the Assistant Program Manager for Test and Evaluation within the Navy’s Program Management Activity for Multi-Mission Helicopter (PMA 299). While at PMA 299, he managed the Developmental Test activities across eighteen MH-60B/F/H/R/S assets and programmatically led the effort into successful Operational Test Readiness Reviews for MH-60R P3I, and MH-60S Armed Helo variants. He has been the Government Flight Test Director on UAS programs such as X-45 UCAV, X-47 UCAS-N, and Tier III DarkStar. He also supported DARPA during the early test and evaluation period of Global Hawk’s Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations at Edwards Air Force Base.

Mr. Heasley received his Masters of Science in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology, his Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University, and is a graduate of United States Naval Test Pilot School, Class 110. Mr. Heasley has been a longstanding member of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and makes his home in Leonardtown, Maryland with his wife, Melinda, his two daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, and his ever-faithful beagle, Sally.