UAVs and air traffic control issues

In the UK, model aircraft and Unmanned Air Vehicles need to conform to regulations, such as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) CAP 658 and the new CAP 722 issued on the 28^th April 2008.

A review has been established to assess the feasibility of the new category says the regulator in a policy notice issued 13 February re-iterating its prohibition on the use of its AC 91-57 model aeroplane regulations as the basis of small UAV operations in US airspace.

The regulator has been under increased pressure from small UAV manufacturers and law enforcement agencies to allow flight operations in recent months.

The policy notice says that the proposed new category would cover “unmanned ‘vehicles’ that may be defined by the operator's visual line of sight and are also small and slow enough to adequately mitigate hazards to other aircraft and persons on the ground.”

Such a category “may be a new flight authorization instrument similar to AC 91-57, but focused on operations which do not qualify as sport and recreation, but also may not require a certificate of airworthiness.

“They will, however, require compliance with applicable FAA regulations and guidance developed for this category.”The US Federal Aviation Administration has flagged possible creation of a new category of regulations that would allow small unmanned air vehicles to operate under within visual line of sight rules, paving the way for easier airspace access for commercial users.

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FAA Issues UAV Policy

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly being developed and deployed, and the FAA on Tuesday published a UAV policy to outline how these aircraft can be used in the National Airspace System. The rules vary depending if the UAV is operated as a public aircraft (operated by the government), a civil aircraft or a model. Public aircraft operate under individual Certificates of Waiver or Authorization (COAs), which are issued after an FAA review of the program and its safety protocols. More than 50 COAs have been granted in the last two years, and a record number are expected for 2007. Civil aircraft must operate under experimental airworthiness certificates. Guidelines for operation of model aircraft are found in FAA Advisory Circular 91-57. Such aircraft may only be used for sport, and not for commercial or business purposes, the FAA notes. More policy statements can be expected as the technology and its applications continue to develop.

Our thanks to Zeq Zaludin for providing us with a copy of this interesting document.

While many technical obstacles must still be overcome before unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can enter civil controlled airspace, government and industry organisations are actively engaged in establishing national and international regulations for their eventual introduction. The November 2006 conference of UVS Canada, the Canadian UAV association, held in Montebello, Quebec, heard presentations from ICAO, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Eurocontrol, joint government/industry specialist groups and other organisations on how the safe integration of UAVs could be achieved..

While there is much greater UAV activity in the US than elsewhere, there is a clear recognition within the worldwide civil aviation community that UAV activity is increasing rapidly, and that uniform standards should now be established. One financial industry forecast reported by Peter van Blyenburgh, of the Paris-based UVS International, predicted that the civil UAV market would reach EUR100 million (USD129.6 million) annually by 2010, increasing to EUR270 million after 2015.'

Two major government/industry groups - one in the US and the other in Europe - are developing UAV policy recommendations. In the US, this is being undertaken by RTCA Special Committee (SC) 203, which was established in 2004 and charged with developing preliminary civil aviation standards for generic Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS which includes airborne and ground elements), plus Command, Control and Communications (C3) and Detect, Sense and Avoid (DSA) technologies.

The European Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) organisation is a similar government/industry body, which established its Working Group (WG) 73 in January 2006, to review UAV operational aspects in European airspace. Chaired by a Eurocontrol official and with an FAA representative as its deputy chairman, WG-73 has parallel objectives to RTCA's SC-203, and both organisations are committed to harmonise their outputs. To that end, the two groups were to hold their first joint conference in Florida in January 2007, with the intention of holding further joint meetings on a regular basis.

From presentation by Colonel Langlois of the EDA at the Unmanned Systems Europe 2007 Conference in Cologne

The European Defence Agency was created in 2004. Colonel Maurice de Langlois, EDA Capability Manager for Engage and Protect Areas at the EDA, presented a view at the Unmanned Systems Europe 2007 Conference in Cologne, Germany on 8th May, 2007. According to Langlois, the first target of the EDA is to get military and state UAVs to fly in non-segregated air space by 2011. The next step is to get civilian UAVs to fly in non-segregated air space around 2013-2014. The EDA will fund a study to help define the efforts required to achieve these " ambitious" goals.

Initial funding for the UK’s Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (ASTRAEA) initiative, is expected to be announced this week, starting a multi-year effort, to normalise unmanned air vehicle operations, in UK air space.

The launch funding is expected to be provided by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and regional government agencies, with announcements to be made at this week’s unmanned air vehicle flying day at ParcAberporth, Wales.

The total cost of the project has previously been forecast as potentially up to £80 million ($140 million) to implement fully over a five-year period. ASTRAEA, set up by the DTI in July 2004, aims to carry out a major demonstration of routine UAV operations, in non-segregated airspace, by 2010.

The programme will include a review of existing UK air traffic policy, development of certification standards and development of sense-and-avoid technologies. BAE Systems is the programme leader for industrial co-ordination and the Welsh Development Agency is co-ordinating UK regional agency and local government involvement, in the project.

The ParcAberporth UAV centre of excellence, being developed by the Welsh Development Agency, with the support of European Commission funds, is being targeted as the main co-ordination centre for ASTRAEA. The facility is also the home of the recently launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association’s (UAVS) Unmanned Systems Services company, the world’s first UAV certification firm, that is undertaking that task, under devolved responsibility arrangements, negotiated with the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

The ASTRAEA programme will build on an intensive five-year UAV airspace integration effort by the UK CAA. Current CAA policy – CAP 772 – provides much scope to open up airspace but “is still evolving and will continue to be modified as progress is made”, says Geoff Bowker, CAP 772 sponsor, in the CAA’s directorate of airspace policy. The CAA has an observer role on the ASTRAEA steering board and on the ParcAberporth pan-government stakeholder group.

Bowker says CAP 772 reflects close co-ordination by the CAA with the UK MoD, UAVS and participation in a variety of common European integration projects, including those headed by EASA and Eurocontrol. He adds that the policy has generated “a lot of approaches from a number of European nations who have taken a great interest in the book and are taking a number of principles from it for themselves”.

But new challenges continue to emerge, he says. “The UK CAA has for many years recognised the need for UAV regulation for predominantly civil UAVs. We are at a unique point in aviation history and it would be helpful if our civil UAV regulation was also in register with the military.”

Above and below from presentation by Nick Miller on " ASTRAEA: UK autonomous systems technology validation program" at the UAV 2007 Conference in Paris.

Above from a presentation by Ron van de Leijgraaf on " Certifying a rotary UAV in The Netherlands" at the UAV 2007 Conference in Paris.