UAV / UAS

21
Dec

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would establish a set of privacy safeguards that drone operators must follow and put limits on the surveillance they can conduct. The measure proposes to amend the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act "to provide guidance and limitiations" on the expansion of non-military drone use in the United States, according to the bill. It would ensure that the FAA cannot issue a license to a drone operator unless they describe what kind of data the drone will collect, how that data will be used and how long it will be stored, among other information, in their license application. Markey's bill, called the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, would also require law enforcement agencies and their contractors to describe how they plan to minimize the collection and retention of data that's unrelated to a crime investigation. It would also require the FAA to create a public website where it will list all the approved licenses for drone use, times and locations of drone flights, information about whether a drone operator suffered a security breach, and other data. The measure would require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before ...

15
Nov

Pilotless civilian aircraft could start to become a common sight in British skies within the next 10 years, it was claimed today. Scientists say aviation is at a "crossroads" with the development of civilian drones that can safely fly themselves. Civilian Unmanned Aircraft (CUAs) would first be introduced to carry out jobs such as search and rescue in hazardous conditions, monitoring the weather and environment, checking roads, railways and power lines, forestry and policing. Robot passenger planes are still a long way off. But other types of civilian drone could be taking to the air in the next decade, according to Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal, director of a £67 million CUA research project. Much of the necessary technology is already there, he said. The main stumbling block was convincing aviation regulators that it is safe and reliable. Speaking to journalists in London, where a conference on CUAs takes place next week, Mr Dopping-Hepenstal said: "Pandora's box is open. These things are going to fly. "This is a revolution in aerospace. You could argue that it's the next step beyond the jet engine." Military drones are already widely employed in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, where their use has been controversial. But their civilian counterparts will have to be even more ...

01
Nov

SAN DIEGO, 26 Oct. 2012. Officials at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA‑ASI), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and the FAA tested an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)-based surveillance system on a Predator/Gray Eagle-series aircraft, in an effort to demonstrate and enhance remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) flight safety. “We are working closely with the FAA, other governmental agencies, and industry partners to advance the safety of RPA,” explains Frank W. Pace, president, Aircraft Systems Group, GA-ASI. “We believe ADS-B will play a key role in a future sense-and-avoid system and will support the FAA’s ‘Next Gen’ initiative, so this is a step in the right direction.” The test involved GA-ASI’s Guardian RPA, a Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) configured for maritime operations, and a prototype of BAE Systems’ AN/DPX-7 Reduced Size Transponder, a military-grade Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) device. The ADS-B-capable transponder interoperates with military and civilian Air Traffic Control (ATC) surveillance systems. During the test, Guardian’s ADS-B IN-capable transponder detected other ADS-B-equipped aircraft in the vicinity, displaying the aircraft on the ground control station (GCS) display. Guardian’s ADS-B OUT transponder simultaneously notified other aircraft and ATC of its location and velocity. The goal was to demonstrate that ...

28
Aug

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) continues to develop its long awaited regulatory framework for integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The first package of standards for what ICAO calls remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) will become applicable on Nov. 15. “This is the tip of a complete regulatory framework,” Leslie Cary, secretary of ICAO’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) study group, told Aviation Week. The objective of the regulations is to enable a remote operator located in, and licensed by, one country to fly a UAV in airspace controlled by another country. The initial set of standards defines an RPAS as “a remotely piloted aircraft plus one or more remote piloting stations, flown by remote pilots who work for an RPAS operator.” The RPAS “has to have a certificate of airworthiness that goes to the aircraft, not the system, but which only goes to the aircraft if it is evaluated as a system,” says Cary. “The RPAS operator must be certificated — akin to an air operator certificate — and the remote pilot has to be licensed.” ICAO is working on an RPAS guidance manual to be published in early 2014, in advance of the related standards. “This will cover requirements for certificates of ...

22
Aug

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has sent a letter to the secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Ray Lahood, and acting Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael Huerta, urging them to create the legally mandated pilot program for the integration of pilotless planes into the national airspace system (NAS). “The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, signed into law on February 14, 2012, required your agency to establish a pilot program to integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system at six test ranges. The law required the test range program to be put in place not later than 180 days after the passage of the FAA bill, or August 12, 2012. Unfortunately, this deadline has passed without the FAA meeting this crucial benchmark,” said the letter.