Congress, concerned about a delay that has already occurred, is pressing the Federal Aviation Administration to stay on schedule for designating six test sites in December that will allow the operation of remotely piloted aircraft in airspace now used by manned planes, to determine how the flying can be safely integrated. Continue reading
Category Archives: Regulatory Matters
Advanced Defense Technologies and AeroSpy Joint Venture on Sense-and-Avoid Technology
Advanced Defense Technologies, Inc. has announced that the Company has entered into a joint venture agreement with AeroSpy, an Austria-based leading technology supplier in the field of navigation, motion tracking, and mobile robotics, to develop and commercialize the first fully certified Sense & Avoid System that would allow the integration of mission-specific UAS into civilian airspace. Continue reading
US Telecoms Cos Oppose Federal Communications Commission Aerostat Emergency Link Plan
Some of the major wireless carriers and public safety organizations are shooting down an idea by the Federal Communications Commission that would allow the launch of communications-carrying UAS or other aircraft to act as temporary links when telecommunications go down in a disaster. Continue reading
Defense Research Associates Gets $5M US Air Force Sense-and-Avoid Contract
Defense Research Associates, Inc. (DRA), a small, veteran-owned company, has been awarded a $5 million small business contract for the U.S. Air Force as an ongoing effort to develop and demonstrate technology to prevent mid-air collisions between aircraft. Continue reading
ICAO/CERG Warsaw Air Law Conference
The ICAO/CERG Warsaw Air Law Conference will take place on 5-6 September 2012 at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland. This conference, which is organized by the Civil Aviation Office of the Republic of Poland, will focus on the current and future problems related to the international legal framework in the field of aviation safety, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and aviation security. Continue reading
FAA On Track for UAS Pilot Site Selection by Year End
Senator John Hoeven said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is on track to select six unmanned aerial system (UAS) pilot sites by the end of the year to integrate remotely piloted aircraft into the National Airspace. Continue reading
US Air Force Prepares to Issue RFP for Airborne Sense and Avoid
U.S. Air Force researchers are surveying industry for companies able to develop sensor-fusion technology that enables unmanned aircraft to sense and avoid other aircraft while flying in controlled U.S. airspace. Continue reading
US Government Accountability Office Publishes Testimony on “Use in the National Airspace System and the Role of the Department of Homeland Security”
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier reported that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) could not meet the aviation safety requirements developed for manned aircraft and posed several obstacles to operating safely and routinely in the national airspace system. Continue reading