March 29, 2006 1:41 PM PST
Drone aircraft may prowl U.S. skies
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Now UAVs may be landing in the United States.
A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.
"We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United States territory," Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner at Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Bureau, told the House Transportation subcommittee.
Kostelnik was talking about patrolling U.S. borders and ports from altitudes around 12,000 feet, an automated operation that's currently under way in Arizona. But that's only the beginning of the potential of surveillance from the sky.
In a scene that could have been inspired by the movie "Minority Report," one North Carolina county is using a UAV equipped with low-light and infrared cameras to keep watch on its citizens. The aircraft has been dispatched to monitor gatherings of motorcycle riders at the Gaston County fairgrounds from just a few hundred feet in the air--close enough to identify faces--and many more uses, such as the aerial detection of marijuana fields, are planned.
That raises not just privacy concerns, but also safety concerns because of the possibility of collisions with commercial and general aviation aircraft.
"They're a legitimate user of the airspace and they need to play by the same rules as everyone else," Melissa Rudinger, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said in a telephone interview.
Pilots undergo extensive training on collision detection and avoidance. Planes that fly at night are required to have certain types of lights, for instance. Operating an aircraft near busy airports (in government parlance, "Class B" airports) requires a transponder that broadcasts its altitude. And during all flights that take place in poor weather or higher than 18,000 feet above sea level, the pilot must be in radio contact with controllers.
No such anti-collision rules apply to UAVs. Rudinger is concerned that UAVs--either remote-controlled or autonomous drones--will pose a safety threat to pilots and their passengers. She's not that worried about larger UAVs operated by the military that have sophisticated radar systems, but about smaller ones that have limited equipment and potentially inexperienced ground controllers.
"The FAA needs to define what is a UAV," Rudinger said. "And they need to regulate it just like they do any other aircraft, and integrate it into the system. The problem is the technology has advanced, and there are no regulations that talk about how to certify these aircraft, how to certify the operator, and how to operate in the national airspace system."
For its part, the FAA says it's created a UAV "program office" to come up with new rules of the sky. Preliminary standards for "sense and avoid" UAV avionics are expected in three to four years.
"Currently there is no recognized technology solution that could make these aircraft capable of meeting regulatory requirements for 'see and avoid,' and 'command and control,'" said Nick Sabatini, associate FAA administrator for aviation safety. "Further, some unmanned aircraft will likely never receive unrestricted access to (U.S. airspace) due to the limited amount of avionics it can carry because of weight, such as transponders, that can be installed in a vehicle itself weighing just a few ounces."
Complicating the question of how to deal with UAVs is the fact that there are so many different varieties of them. Some are essentially large model aircraft and weigh only a few ounces or pounds, while some military models are the size of a Boeing 737. Most are designed to sip fuel slowly, so they have long flight times and low airspeeds--meaning that they could be flying at the same altitude as a jet aircraft but at half the speed.
Egging on Congress and the FAA are manufacturers of UAVs, who see a lucrative market in domestic surveillance and aerial photography.
"It is quite easy to envision a future in which (UAVs), unaffected by pilot fatigue, provide 24-7 border and port surveillance to protect against terrorist intrusion," said Mike Heintz on behalf of the UNITE Alliance which represents Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. "Other examples are limited only by our imagination."
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- Times are getting crazy!
- I don't know for certon if athoritys have thought about this much.I wont to leave my childern with a better land than I have and that my father had.The problem today is that WE THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES have been to lazy, or to frusterated with our gov.to get involved.As a resalt,we have given to much power to the gov. as a hole!!!DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!!!!!!I don't wont anyone,esp. the police,to be watching my every move.I would love to ask someone responable"Who do you think you are!?What gives you the right to serv.all inorder to catchy the few?"The problem with that is that noone in paticuler is responsable.There for noone is held accuntable if these aircraft are used for the rough resons.America,ARE YOU BLIND!?
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- A MAJOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION!
- Please little white crackers, stop pushing big brother
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- SHOOT THEM DOWN OR LOOSE FREEDOM
- even if they do have practical use for natonal security, they dont have business flying in the aspect of everyones lives, i dont give a hoot how religious and forgiving you are.....
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- aerial refueling of unmanned aerial systems
- The article by Ms. McCullagh is spot on but late to the party. A look overseas will show that Europe is taking the lead to get Unmanned Aerial "Systems" (the use of "Vehicles" is old school today in this industry) into airspace over the countries of the European Union. As usual the control of U.S. airspace by manned aviation is being fought for by FAA and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association who both are so set in there old ways could mean that the unmanned aviation world will pass us by. Unless we in this new industry of unmanned aviation take the offense and fight them for our piece of the sky the new lucrative markets will be lost for years to this very new industry. Soon aerial refueling will be taking place over the skies of the world to keep such unmanned cost competitive systems air-born days or weeks at a time due to the new technologies of engine bearings soon coming to market. I have been working on this aerial refueling technology for the past couple of years that will allow the refueling of even the smallest unmanned aviation systems to be refueled in mid-air at airspeeds below 150 knots. There's money to be made in this industry a lot of it by flying such systems, this industry is moving at light speed. AOPA and FAA will try to hold back this technology while the rest of the world flies past us it is ingrained to there old ways of thinking and who they serve. I only hope that the unmanned industry gets it's lobbyist ready to do battle against these two monoliths of aviation past who will try again to control of people's airspace. How aviation business by unmanned aviation "systems" will be done in this country and the world is now being fought out on capital hill. There's a new kid on the block. Game On.
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- aerial drones over Texas
- I've been observing moving objects over southeast Texas for quite some time. Only recently did learn they were drones. After some research, I realized how extensively they've been used. For instance, back in 1995, Ellington Airbase, which is about 5 to 10 miles east of my residence, replaced an entire squadron of F-18's with a dozen UAV's. Recently, one that looks remarkably like one mentioned on the internet shows up every morning, not only very huge in size, but at the exact time each time. It also leaves at the exact time each day. I have observed commercial airliners comeing quite close to this one. Until a friend told me about drones, I really did think I was observing UFO's. My family thought I had lost my mind or the ability to see properly. Sincerely, Mark Sudela
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