Developing Five-Year 'Road Map'
The FAA has selected
Lockheed Martin to help develop a “Road Map” for
introducing UAVs into the National Airspace System.
Lockheed Martin will assist the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft
Program Office in refining its operating plans and budgetary
requirements by creating a five-year road map of government and
industry Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) initiatives.
Lockheed is to evaluate the current state of UAS mission needs,
forecast their near-term demands on airspace capacity and chart a
strategic plan to safely integrate their operations into the
nation’s airspace.
Lockheed Martin project leader Ken Geiselhart says, “By
identifying the mission needs, operating environments and platforms
expected for unmanned aircraft, and then mapping them against
manufacturer plans and FAA certification timelines, we seek to
provide the FAA with the ‘big-picture’ of the emerging
UAS market and its subsequent impact on the nation's airspace
resources.”
The current UAS market in the United States is primarily driven
by government customers at the Departments of Defense and Homeland
Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others. Today,
according to FAA, more than 50 manufacturers offer nearly 150 UAS
products, with many others poised to enter the commercial
marketplace.
“Lockheed Martin is uniquely qualified to lead this
next-generation initiative,” said Sue Corcoran, vice
president of Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security
Solutions. Lockheed brings expertise in both air traffic
management and UAS technologies to the table.
In a release, Lockheed says 60 percent of the world's commercial
air traffic is monitored and controlled by Lockheed Martin air
traffic systems.
There are concerns
though... Many general aviation users of the national airspace
system have expressed fears that safety might be compromised. When
operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), pilots in all aircraft
are expected to both see and avoid other aircraft. Without a pilot
in the UAV, that aircraft is unable to "see," and therefore unable
to avoid other aircraft.
Additionally, the size of many smaller UAVs would make them very
difficult, if not impossible, for pilots to spot in time to
avoid a colllision.
Another concern is the government, being unable to ensure
safety, might institute flight restrictions on VFR aircraft where
UAVs are operating instead. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association, representing more than 400,000 US pilots, feels there
already enough restrictions on flight as it is. That organization
has tangled with the FAA several times over these concerns.