Although for so long overshadowed by the focus on the burgeoning military market, the capabilities that UAVs can bring to paramilitary and civil/commercial applications continue to grow increasingly apparent. UAVs have been important assets for science and research and their employment in these roles can further expand. They can also provide a low-cost alternative to satellites for communications. UAVs can undertake freight transport among other commercial roles. They can monitor the environment. They can perform border patrol among other law enforcement tasks, the homeland security requirement indeed a key driver for the commercialization of UAVs. And the range of civil roles no doubt will continue to expand. (See News Briefs p. 8) Military UAVs operate primarily in military airspace, away from civil/commercial air traffic, but civil UAVs on the other hand by definition will be compelled to fly amongst todays range of general and commercial aircraft. They therefore need to be airworthy and safe and civil-certified (the latter applying to both aircraft and operators) while air traffic procedures and policies need to be established for their control. Establishing the proper regulatory framework for UAV flight in civil airspace will also benefit military UAVs that may have to transit through such airspace.
展开▼
