The UK’s leading drone operators have called on the Government to change the way uncrewed aviation is regulated, and break down the barriers to uncrewed flight that risk the UK missing out on the ‘drone opportunity’.
The comments come in a new White Paper published by the BVLOS Operations Forum, a consortium of advanced drone and technology companies that are pioneering the use of remotely piloted aircraft ‘beyond visual line of sight’ (BVLOS).
‘South of the Clouds: A roadmap to the next generation of uncrewed aviation’, sets out the industry’s vision of how new types of aircraft, like drones, can be integrated into the UK’s busy skies, and what steps the Government needs to take to make it happen.
Organisations in the Forum are already using drones to deliver cancer treatments and vital medical supplies to patients in remote areas; in search & rescue operations by HM Coastguard; and for conducting infrastructure inspections and monitoring in a more sustainable, safer way. But because government regulations have evolved more slowly than the technologies in this sector, these types of remotely piloted flights are limited to very restricted areas of airspace, making regular commercial services difficult to deliver. ‘South of the Clouds’ presents a collective industry view of how policymakers could address that problem.
“This White Paper has been co-created by the Forum to outline the imperative of uncrewed flight”, said Russell Porter, Chair of the BVLOS Operations Forum and Head of UTM Stakeholder Engagement at air traffic services company NATS.
“The way forward to achieving routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, integrated with other air traffic, will require significant policy change from both the Government and the Civil Aviation Authority.
“While there have been positive developments, not least i n the Future Flight Challenge and the recently published Airspace Modernisation Strategy, this fast-growing sector is adamant we need to go further, faster, if we are to make uncrewed aircraft a safe and effective option in the aeronautical toolbox.”
Among the policy recommendations is a call for all aircraft to be equipped with ‘electronic conspicuity’ technology to show their location – without this, drones would effectively be flying blind to what’s around them – as well as reform of the regulatory system to enable remotely piloted flights in more areas of airspace, rather than restricted or temporary environments.
Also proposed is a roadmap that sets out a vision for how airspace could be managed for uncrewed aircraft in the future, and the steps required to get there, so that those in the industry can plan and invest accordingly.
“With reduced emissions, reduced cost, and improved safety, uncrewed aircraft can achieve extraordinary things that everyone, in all parts of the UK, will benefit from, and BVLOS is key to unlocking that full potential” said Russell Porter.
“The next generation of aviation is coming, and now is the time to act to make it a reality.”
To read ‘South of the Clouds: A roadmap to the next generation of uncrewed aviation’, visit: https://www.nats.aero/sotc
About the BVLOS Operations Forum
The BVLOS Operations Forum is made up of 15 organisations (listed below), all of whom are involved in developing or operating beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations.
Apian ARPAS-UK Blue Bear BristowCallen Lenz FlylogixMaritime & Coastguard AgencyMinistry of DefenceNATS National Police Air ServiceNational Police Chief’s Council Network Rail Sees.ai SkyportsWindracers
The Forum was established by air traffic control leader, NATS, to bring drone operators together to learn from each other’s operations, collectively advance safety in uncrewed flight, and support policy makers in developing the policies and regulations that the industry needs to grow.
About NATS
NATS is the UK’s principal air navigation services provider and is split into two main businesses, which provide two distinct services:
NATS (En Route) plc (NERL) — the regulated business, which provides air traffic management services to aircraft within UK airspace and over the eastern part of the North Atlantic; and
NATS (Services) Ltd (NSL) — the unregulated business, which provides air traffic control services at many of the UK’s major airports (13 civil and 7 military airfields) and other airports overseas.
NATS is alive to the opportunities that new airspace users present for airspace in the future and has worked closely with early innovators. Safety is always our number one priority, and we are working with increasing intensity to support the growth of this exciting new industry by safely integrating new users into a sustainable, modernised and fully integrated airspace.
For more information visit the NATS website at www.nats.aero
AeroEnvironment's newest UAV is rumored to look at lot like the Helios Prototype, which crashed in 2003.
BY SAM BLUMPUBLISHED: MAR 7, 2019
AeroEnvironment’s newest drone will mirror its prior creation, the Helios Prototype.
NASA
A race is on to build a fleet of solar-powered drones that beam internet down to the Earth beneath them, and the tech titans are dominating this chase—or so we thought. But now that Google and Facebook both have dashed their plans for roaming unmanned internet planes, a lesser known company is partnering with NASA to bring the project closer to reality, according to an IEEE Spectrum report.
It is the Hawk 30, a massive 10-engine drone in the vein of previous UAVs made by Airbus and the solar-powered Odysseus plane that can fly for months on end. The product of Japanese tech giant SoftBank and U.S. drone manufacturer AeroEnvironment, the Hawk could soon embark on test flights, with a launch from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center potentially slated for this week.
The Hawk, though part of a new $65 million partnership between the two companies, is part of the same family as previous UAVs AeroEnvironment built for NASA. One of those was the Helios prototype, which crashed in 2003 during a high-altitude test. The Hawk mirrors its ill-fated predecessor in both ambition and design. In 2001, the Helios reached the highest altitude of any winged horizontal aircraft when it ascended to 93,000 feet. The milestone set a new precedent for high-altitude, solar aircraft.
While it may be years from commercial readiness, the Hawk 30 has big implications for the broadening of wireless connectivity in remote regions, if indeed it can succeed where others have failed: Facebook made a splashy foray into the internet-beaming drone race by announcing Aquila, a solar-powered UAV the size of a Boeing 737's wingspan that used propellers to ply air. (The project was abandoned in 2017 after the drones were damaged in landings). Google too began vetting its sky-born internet capabilities in 2015, but later scrapped drones in favor of Project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons to beam down internet.
The Hawk will still have to fend off competition from the likes of Airbus, but its prospects are lifted by AeroEnvironments connections with NASA. IEEE Spectrum reports the company is contracted with the space agency for three flight tests that will take the drone up to 10,000 feet, with the intention go much higher if initial tests are successful:
AeroVironment is paying NASA nearly $800,000 to supervise and provide ground support for the upcoming low altitude tests, which are scheduled to continue until the end of June. If those are successful, the company will go higher in its next round.
There's currently no word on the Hawk's communications payload capacity, but its creators certainly hope that it helps expand wireless internet access across the globe. First, though, it will have to make it out of testing unscathed.
Source: IEEE Spectrum
by: Bruce Crumley-
Jan. 31st 2023 4:35 am
Officials from the island of Jersey have briefed authorities on neighboring Guernsey about potential implications that looming drone trials are expected to eventually have for daily life and activity on both English Channel territories.
A delegation of Jersey transport officials made the 27-mile trip to Guernsey to discuss UK-sponsored drone testing that – among other things – is expected to lead to fast and affordable transportation services between the two islands, compared to current boat, helicopter, and small plane options.
The initial phase of the trials, slated to be held in the spring of next year, will begin with demonstration drone flights for residents, then proceed on to use in simulated scenarios like critical medical deliveries, offshore fishery patrols, and deployment in search and rescue situations.
The objective is to prepare regular operation of drones in an array of commercial and public services on both Jersey and Guernsey, and – as a logical extension of that smaller UAV tech – eventual air taxi flights between the islands, as well as to France to the east and England to the north.
Jersey was selected as one of the testbeds for the Agile Integrated Airspace System program (ALIAS), which is examining ways of integrating drones and automated cargo and passenger craft within UK airspaces. Though both Channel Islands are independently administrated and separate territories, they maintain longtime special relations with the UK that facilitate common projects like the ALIAS trials.
Funded by a $4.6 million grant from the government-linked UK Innovation and Research organization that promotes next-generation aviation and other emerging technologies, ALIAS is made up of nine business and public partners, including delivery and vertiport company Skyports and Volant Autonomy, an avionics and navigation software startup spun off from the University of Bath.
Though uses cases and outcomes during trials will reflect in the particularities of daily life on Jersey, they’ll also be relevant to and shared with neighboring Guernsey, while also remaining applicable to the kinds of planned drone activities in the UK.
Robin MacRae, an official with the Ports of Jersey who was part of the delegation that visited Guernsey, called the ALIAS trials a first step in a potentially life-changing development process for both islands.
“We see ALIAS as a great opportunity, not just for Ports, but for the Channel Islands,” he said. “It will enable us to move essential medical supplies, bolster our search and rescue capability, and eventually to provide air taxi services within the Channel Islands. Sustainability is also important to us. We want to make swift progress on the decarbonization of aviation, so we are keen to pursue opportunities to work with like-minded partners.”
Drones in the Jersey trials will operate below 3,000 feet – beneath the altitude traditional planes fly – in a designated offshore airspace of 60-square kilometers, and under Jersey Air Traffic Control aegis.
ALIAS testing will rely on an integrated system to manage the UAVs and air traffic control elements, using the Xr aircraft collision avoidance system standard for air taxis and other autonomous aircraft – the only program thus far doing so besides NASA.
Source: https://dronedj.com/2023/01/31/jersey-islanders-prepare-for-nearing-uk-sponsored-drone-trials/