Administration’s Executive Orders Affect Drone Ops, Supersonic Flight

The Trump Administration recently issued several Executive Orders that refocus government agencies on advancing U.S. aviation as the global gold standard in aerospace for future decades by expanding UAS operations, ensuring U.S. airspace sovereignty, and ringing in a new era of supersonic flight.

The first EO is titled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance”, and directs the FAA to expand UAS operations by enabling BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) operations for commercial and public safety missions. This complements the FAA’s recent BVLOS proposal and establishes an eVTOL pilot program to accelerate such operations in the U.S.

The second EO, “Ensuring American Sovereignty Over its Skies,” takes steps to mitigate risks to public safety and national security from the increasing use of drones – in the national airspace system. It includes nefarious operations by criminals, terrorists, drug cartels and other hostile foreign actors. Along with authorizing federal agencies to use existing authorities to detect, track and identify drones and drone signals, it also provides state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies access to grant programs for detection equipment.

The third EO is titled “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight,” and directs the FAA to repeal the prohibition on overland flight exceeding the speed of sound and rescind other regulations that hinder supersonic flight. It also instructs the FAA to establish a standard for supersonic aircraft noise certification that considers community acceptability, economic reasonableness and technological feasibility.

Ed Bolen, President and CEO of NBAA said, “NBAA welcomes these announcements, which will accelerate innovation and unleash promising new capabilities. Equally important, they will also enhance airspace safety, strengthen national security and ensure continued global leadership for an essential American industry.”

FMI:  nbaa.org/