Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
Issue link: https://insideunmanned.epubxp.com/i/470284
45 unmanned systems inside Spring 2014 air rity. Organizations considering UAVs include municipal and national police forces, anti- terrorism squads, city fire brigades, forest fire fighters, coast guards, civil defense authorities, and environmental protection agencies, as well as groups responsible for EU border security. At the same time, large European corporate entities—from electric grid, pipeline network, and railway operators to oil companies—have awakened to the fact that UAVs could serve use- ful and profitable functions. But—and this is a rather large "but"—the use of UAVs in Europe is currently limited by the fact that national, and not EU-level, civil aviation authorities (CAAs) retain the power to grant flight authorizations, largely on a case-by- case basis, involving burdensome procedures and mandates to stay in segregated airspace. The European Commission—the power- ful, trans-European administrative/executive body based in Brussels—says it does not want to change the way air traffic services are provided to suit the needs of unmanned aircraft. In its view, existing aviation practices will remain in place and the unmanned aviation industry will have to adapt their practices to accommodate them. While some CAAs have issued or are about to issue national regulations, these regula- tions are not necessarily aligned to one anoth- er, thus creating an unwieldy situation across the continent. Specifically, countries including the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom now have national regu- lations addressing the operation of civil UAVs, while Austria, Belgium, and Spain are putting regulations in place. Other EU countries, nearly half, have yet to address the issue. In practically all cases, operations must take place within visual line-of-sight, at a flight alti- tude of less than 500 feet, with a maximum take-off mass of less than 25 kilograms. These flights are principally under- taken by small or medium-sized enterprises. All agree that, at the very least, all the ter- ritories—that is, nations or member states—of the European Union need some kind of cover- ing regulation, and ideally there should be an overarching EU UAV regulation. In the absence of such a harmonized, broad- spectrum approach, however, individual mem- ber states are forging ahead—or lagging be- hind—mostly on their own. A rendering of the Delair-Tech DT-18, designed and built by Delair-Tech and operated by Red Bird, both of France. Belgium's Trimble UX5 . 1 Art courtesy of Delair-Tech 2