The Future of
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Scott Leishman
Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University-Worldwide
ASCI 637
ASCI 637
When I
think of what the future holds for unmanned aircraft I begin to think about
integration, what impact it will have, what we could expect to see, and future legislation.
In addition to this though, I also think about the growth of this market and
its potential economic impact. A few years ago the idea of having “drones” in
the airspace was a fantasy, and now it has become a reality, from keeping constant
surveillance on our borders, to delivering beer to those who don’t want to go
out to get it. According to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International (AUVSI), these futuristic UAS often seen as a privacy threat will
create $82 billion in economic impact over the 10-year span from 2015 to 2025. In
response to outcries from industry experts that the U.S. is lagging in the
international market, Fairfax, Va.-based consultant Teal Group projects
industry sales from 2014 onward will total to $89 billion by 2023, yet the U.S.
has not even entered that market commercially (Bryan, 2014) . Other areas of the industry
that could see a big boost include areas of detect-sense-and-avoid technologies.
In the United States this is one major issue regarding integration. The FAA
recently made an announcement that makes it mandatory to register drones. On
December 14, 2015 the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) announced a streamlined and user-friendly web-based
aircraft registration process for owners of small unmanned aircraft (UAS)
weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and less than 55 pounds (approx. 25
kilograms) including payloads such as on-board cameras (Federal
Aviation Administration, 2015) . With this
registration requirement and an improvement of detect-sense-and-avoid
technologies we can realistically expect legislation to loosen its current view
on drone use, but until they have full integration of the airspace, many
benefits will be lost. In the future most nearly the next 5-10 years we could
expect drones to serve in roles that they are not currently operating in,
things such as search and rescue, firefighting, non-lethal police force, and
other areas. For now the future is uncertain, but one constant that remains is
that drones are a world changer, and as new legislation as created and new
technology emerges, we can expect to see the economic impacts and benefits associated
with drone use.
“Many scientists parallel unmanned
systems today to where we were with ‘horseless carriages’ back in 1909-1910, at
the start of something so big we can only wrap our minds around what it is not.
That is, automobiles and the resulting mechanization didn’t just become change
industry and warfare, it also […] led to the requirement of new laws, ‘traffic
laws.’ The point here is that every so often in history, the emergence of a new
technology changes our world.”
– Peter Singer, Ph.D. Senior
Fellow and Director 21st Century Defense Initiative The Brookings Institution
Bryan, C. (2014, April 22). Avionics Magazine.
Retrieved from The Future of Unmanned Flight:
http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/military/The-Future-of-Unmanned-Flight_81910.html#.VndO4BUrKhc
Federal Aviation Administration. (2015, December 14).
Press Release – FAA Announces Small UAS Registration Rule. Retrieved
from https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=19856
Statement of
Peter Singer, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Director, 21st Century Defense
Initiative, The Brookings Institution, before the U.S. House
of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee
on National Security and Foreign Affairs, March 23, 2010.
Scott,
ReplyDeleteYou put together a nicely written and informative post for the last assignment!
After reviewing your post and rereading through it a couple of times I find it hard to imagine that the last minute FAA registration process is a coincidence that came just before Christmas when many are expecting a Quadcopter or other UAS in their stocking (Press release, 2015)…
I believe the US is lagging behind in the race to integrate UAS as far as globally anyway. The UK has loosened the reins somewhat and allowed UAS access with restrictions, but in my lifetime I have seen the US go from the world leader in all aspects, no matter what it took ie; the space race and moon landings to a country that lags behind due to red tape or some other governmental problem.
Maybe that’s just my take on it but we as a country should be leading the world in integration since we were the frontrunners of operating UAS both in research and deployment to combat operations.
I agree with your summation that at least the UAS will be allowed to assist in search and rescue, firefighting and other areas of government long before full implementation takes place. As you say, there will be many new laws no matter how long it takes to implement. I also believe people will need laws established to ensure at least some kind of order, just as driving or any other activities need laws.
Reference
Press Release- FAA announces small UAS registration rule. (December 14, 2015). Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=19856