In an effort to exploit the commercial potential of its unmanned air vehicles, Insitu using its Pacific division to spearhead the effort.
The Boeing-owned company is hoping to offer the ScanEagle UAV for mining, disaster monitoring, fire fighting, and oil and gas applications and hopes to help potential commercial customers to develop the business case for incorporating UAVs into their operations.
“If you want to get into the commercial and civil market there are easier places to do it than the US,” says Andrew Duggan, managing director of Insitu Pacific. He cites Australia as a key test ground for its ongoing commercial efforts. “A series of trials have been conducted into this and some more will happen this month.”
Duggan says that the safe separation and utility of flying UAVs for commercial operations has been proven, but it is now a matter of establishing a business case to enable routine operations.
Insitu
The ScanEagle incorporates a mode C transponder that can feed into air traffic control, so is already able to be flown in controlled airspace like any manned aircraft.
Duggan says that the effort to introduce commercial operations for UAVs started with low-risk operations, so this can now be built on to allow for a wider scope of utility.
In the event of a disaster, quick deployment is required, so a means of obtaining regulatory approval more quickly is required. Meanwhile, Insitu is looking for longer-term permission from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority to carry out certain operations.
“We’re really trying to push the boundaries with this,” Duggan says. The company is also looking to perform some work in Malaysia in support of palm oil plantation monitoring and surveillance of illegal forestry.
Source: Flight Daily News
