It was a landmark week in the history of unmanned aviation. In an industry segment normally driven by technology advances, this time the push came from two separate and very different policy decisions by the US government. First, the Federal Aviation Administration released on 15 February a draft of proposed rules for integrating unmanned air systems weighing less than 25kg (55lb) in national airspace. Two days later, the State Department issued a new policy that for the first time allows the export of armed UAS to foreign militaries. Both have far-reaching – and often overlooked – consequences.
The State Department’s move had long been anticipated and will, no doubt, be welcomed by big UAS and munitions suppliers with access to the government’s multi-billion-dollar pipeline of foreign military sales.
The new export policy comes with loose strings, in the form of a blanket prohibition on the use of these exported systems for illegal surveillance and non-legitimate acts of violence. While such admonishments are helpful, it does highlight an even larger implication of the State Department’s decision. While the government prohibited the export of armed UAS abroad, it had some moral authority to prevent similar transfers by countries with less commitment to even the loose strings that the new US policy attaches to such sales.
On the commercial side, the long wait for the FAA to release a notice of proposed rulemaking is over. It took the agency more than eight years to release the draft regulations. While several years late, the proposals strike a reasonable balance between safety and access. UAS-based delivery services will have to wait a bit longer, but the proposed rules would allow a commercial industry to develop around aerial photography, precision agriculture and pipeline monitoring.
For the near future, the real menace to aviation safety will come not from commercial operators but from the still unregulated and largely unmonitored hordes flying cheap and unreliable “drones” for recreation.
Overall, the unmanned industry is making huge strides – but many want more progress. It is incredible to consider that only 20 years ago UAS operations were largely unknown outside of Israel and a small, unappreciated US Army project called the Predator.
Regulators in other countries have in many ways outpaced their counterparts in the USA. It is already legal in Australia and Canada and the UK to fly a UAS for commercial purposes. That day is still at least one year ahead in the USA, but it is closer now than ever.
Source: Flight International
