US Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn has launched a review of the Pentagon’s unmanned aircraft programmes to determine whether their requirements to operate in the national airspace are clearly defined and consistent with the department’s new airspace integration plan.
In an April 29 memo, Lynn directs the military departments, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command to conduct a review of current and planned programmes for unmanned aircraft systems “to ensure that national airspace access requirements to support domestic training operations are clearly documented and aligned” with the new plan.
Lynn wants the study’s results to be reported to the Joint Requirements Oversight Council within 180 days of the memo’s issuance. His memo accompanies DOD’s new UAS airspace integration plan, which the UAS Task Force’s Airspace Integration Integrated Product Team produced in March to replace the 2004 version.
Laying out the incremental steps the department intends to take to introduce military drones into national airspace, the new plan addresses what DOD considers an increasing demand to fly military drones in American skies to complete missions ranging from training to surveillance and homeland security. But the national airspace access for unmanned drones is “greatly limited” under Federal Aviation Administration policies, the plan notes.
To fly outside of restricted, prohibited or warning areas, DOD must obtain a certificate of authorization, or COA, from the FAA. This process can often take a long time. “Although DOD has been able to facilitate a small number of flights through the COA process, DOD has not been able to obtain the level of airspace access necessary to accomplish the wide range of DOD UAS missions at current and projected operational tempos,” the plan states. “The DOD is working to incrementally eliminate restrictions and limitations associated with UAS by developing and implementing policies, standards and technologies that will further justify and enable routine [national airspace] access for all required DOD UAS missions.”
The DOD plan provides a greater level of detail on the department’s goals than a joint national airspace access plan produced in the fall by a panel consisting of representatives from DOD, the FAA, the Department of Homeland Security and NASA. “This gives you all the detail that was missing from the joint document,” a Pentagon source said. “You get much greater fidelity.”
The plan lays out four core precepts of UAS airspace integration: to apply the military’s aviation expertise and enable the department to develop “the safest, most capable UAS fleet possible;” to conform where possible with existing regulatory guidance but help create changes where necessary; to use the department’s power to certify aircraft, pilots and systems and ensure that the UAS and supporting systems are fully compliant with regulations and standards; and work to have a coordinated effort to “engage as one.”
“These precepts and the actions they drive are only effective when applied in support of defined and validated access requirements for DOD UAS,” Lynn writes in the memo mandating the review.
The call for the review came out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and was planned prior to Lynn’s memo, according to the source, who said so far no additional review guidance has been issued.
NORTHCOM spokesman Lt. Cmdr. William Lewis said that the command is aware of the requirement and has “begun the process.” Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. John Haynes said because the review is ongoing, there was “not a lot we can discuss at this moment.” Army spokesman Lt. Col. David Gercken noted it was a “work in progress.” The Marine Corps and Navy deferred comment to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. SOUTHCOM did not provide comment by press time (May 11).
To accomplish airspace integration, DOD’s plan lays out a number of near-term, mid-term and far-term activities. The near-term activities consist of updating a memorandum of agreement signed in 2007 by DOD and FAA to “increase access to specific categories of airspace.” DOD also wants to improve the COA application and approval process, and formally ratify safety case methodology and appropriate level of safety.
Mid-term activities include certifying and fielding a ground-based, sense-and-avoid system, as well as standardizing procedures for separation, avoidance, coordination and contingencies. Far-term activities consist of obtaining routine national airspace access comparable to manned aircraft by developing and approving all technical standards and performance standards.
The incremental access approach is designed to allow DOD to operate as soon as possible, while lessening restrictions and increasing access over time. The department created six different flight profiles that incrementally provide more access.
The initial steps would consist of line-of-sight operations and terminal area operations. Line-of-site operations, which occur when a UAS flies with a visual observer, are designed to train for pilot/operator qualification and combat readiness, and could be used in tactical surveillance and disaster relief. Terminal area operations, which take place in a confined volume of airspace, are to train for take-off and landing proficiency and orbit proficiency, or in missions such as local security.
Mid-term airspace usage would consist of lateral transition and vertical transition operations, and far-term operations would be in operating areas and dynamic operations. The report notes that because nearly 90 percent of the required near term airspace for DOD UAS will be in classes D, E and G, the department intends to focus much of its near-term resources on that major need.
“The use of airspace access profiles will enable the warfighter to implement operations incrementally and prior to a full dynamic operation capability,” the plan states. “Once dynamic operations access is implemented, the other profiles become the exception instead of the standard.”
In addition to laying out flight profiles, the plan also notes that DOD is working to update the military handbook, MIL-HDBK-516B, to include UAS-specific airworthiness criteria, standards and methods of compliance. This handbook is the primary guidance for DOD airworthiness certification. An update will be published in fiscal year 2013, the source said.
Lynn’s foreword to the plan states that near-term work can help bring drones into the national air space immediately, but adds that “a full set of regulations, policy and procedures, standards and technology must be developed and considered to allow UAS appropriate access to the [national airspace] in a safe and efficient manner.”
Source: Inside Defense