14 Jan , 2015
Various Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Pictured are (front to back, left to right) RQ-11A Raven, Evolution, Dragon Eye, NASA FLIC, Arcturus T-15, Skylark, Tern, RQ-2B Pioneer, and Neptune.
Reports of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being used for private and commercial use are a regular feature in the media. Does it mean that there is going to be sudden surge of UAVs flying in the Indian skies trailing advertising banners, delivering pizza or monitoring traffic? This is highly unlikely considering that unregulated use of UAVs for private and commercial use in civil airspace will result in chaos and accidents. In 1944, Clarence Johnson, the legendary founder of Lockheed’s Skunk Works and the designer of the SR-71 and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, predicted that the future of military aviation would belong to the UAV. It appears that the prediction is slowly but surely coming true; now the market for civil and commercial applications of UAVs is poised for spectacular growth.
Reports of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being used for private and commercial use are a regular feature in the media. Does it mean that there is going to be sudden surge of UAVs flying in the Indian skies trailing advertising banners, delivering pizza or monitoring traffic? This is highly unlikely considering that unregulated use of UAVs for private and commercial use in civil airspace will result in chaos and accidents.
In 1944, Clarence Johnson, the legendary founder of Lockheed’s Skunk Works and the designer of the SR-71 and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, predicted that the future of military aviation would belong to the UAV. It appears that the prediction is slowly but surely coming true; now the market for civil and commercial applications of UAVs is poised for spectacular growth.
Emergence of UAVs
The last 25 years have seen the emergence of UAVs as ubiquitous weapon systems around the world. In the 1990s, the Predator UAV was used in Bosnia and Kosovo to electronically monitor the battlefield. Weaponisation of the UAV was a logical progression and it was only a matter of time before it was used as an unobtrusive weapon of destruction. In September 2011, the New York Times reported that a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator launched from a secret CIA base in Saudi Arabia, killed Anwar Al Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni terrorist who had been placed on the CIA’s list for elimination. This was a watershed in modern military warfare wherein technology was employed to neutralise the enemy without putting own combatants in harm’s way.
Drone operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen have drawn international criticism but more importantly, have put the civilian applications of UAVs in the shade away from public attention. This is not to say that there has been a slowdown in the use of UAVs for civilian roles but the adverse publicity has coloured civilian perceptions of privacy, personal freedom and safety while using UAVs for non-military roles.
Military applications have driven the design and development of UAVs over the last four decades and there was very little attention to their use for civilian and commercial use. However, the focus is shifting and of late, there have been a number of studies worldwide to examine the use of UAVs for civilian applications. It is projected that the full range of capability currently available on military UAVs will be ready for civilian use within the next decade.
Military UAVs also referred to as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), come in a wide variety of sizes and payload capability. The largest military UAS is bigger than a Boeing 737 and the smallest is a mere hand-held gadget. The term “UAS” drives home the relevance of the systems necessary for the operation of the unmanned aircraft and includes four elements:
Unmanned aircraft.
Control system or the ground station.
Control-link or data-link.
Other support equipment and personnel.
Immaterial of the size, payload or mission of the UAS, it cannot operate without all these elements working in harmony. Larger the range and endurance of the unmanned aircraft, greater the complexity of the data-link, the control station and the support equipment.
Civilian Application of UAVs
A recent study supported by the British Government and some of the leading aerospace companies in the UK has projected that the push for civilian applications of UAVs could create a market worth $400 billion over the next ten years. The consortium behind the programme sees potential use of drones for many roles currently undertaken by manned aircraft particularly for those that are “dirty, dull and dangerous” like search and rescue, inspection of oil pipelines and crop spraying. These roles are strenuous for the pilot and at times involve flying in treacherous conditions.
Civilian UAVs are currently in use or under consideration around the world for use in diverse environments or in high-risk roles such as:
Wildfire detection and management
Pollution monitoring
Event security, policing and traffic management
Disaster relief
Fisheries management
Pipeline monitoring and oil and gas security
Meteorology – storm tracking
Remote aerial mapping
Power transmission line survey and inspection and checking of wind turbine blades
Aerial photography
Advertising and promotions
Atmospheric research, oceanography, geophysical research
The list is endless and can include other applications such as checking safety of mines, monitoring of construction sites and inspection of bridges, railway lines, environmental inspection of nuclear, biological or chemical disaster areas. They are already being used in such diverse fields as agriculture and film making.
Employment of a plane or a helicopter is not cost-effective for a number of these tasks but presently it is the only choice. The availability of civilian UAVs provides a viable option. The scope for the commercial use of UAVs, therefore, is vast and the applications are limited only by the imagination of the operator. But there are impediments to overcome before these concepts are translated into reality.
The military views the UAV as a viable weapon system if it meets its operational tasks without endangering own combatants. Many government agencies that are not constrained by costs, as the civilian world is, use UAVs. However, the real challenge is to get the corporate world driven by the financial bottom lines to jump into this regime. Civilian use of UAVs is judged by the cost-benefits of using UAVs in lieu of piloted aircraft and businesses are unlikely to embrace this technology unless they find it financially viable. The cost per hour of UAV operation has to be less than that for a piloted aircraft.
The cost per hour of using an UAV is misleading because it merely addresses the cost of flying the vehicle and non-recurring costs must be factored in to arrive at an accurate assessment of the total cost of using UAVs for civilian applications. Some of these overhead expenses are driven by:
• Payload Integration
The UAV is only as effective as its payload and at times the payload has to be changed to meet the requirements of the user and this could involve modifications to the UAV which are very expensive.
The use of drones in war zones has been beset with accidents and issues of accountability…
• Transporting the UAV
The UAV may need to be transported from its home base to the area of interest. Depending on the UAV and its access to the national airspace, it may either be flown there or transported by air or surface transport. This cost of transportation has to be added to the mission cost.
• Support Staff Movement
All UAVs need support staff for their operation and some missions would need the support staff to move to different parts of the country or the world. This staff includes technicians for UAV setup, operation and maintenance, ground operators, payload specialists and users connected with the mission requirements who are all needed at site thus driving the costs upwards.
• Acquisition Costs
Civilian users of UAV technology are unlikely to acquire the vehicle as this will push the cost unless they have a year round plan to utilise the flight time. Most civilian users will contract operators for the use of the UAV and the cost per hour will take into account all non-recurring and recurring costs.
The recurring costs are those proportional to the flying hours and include the direct cost of fuel, routine maintenance and insurance. One major recurring expense is the cost of communications and depending on the complexity of the mission, location and range of operations the bandwidth requirements. These enhance the cost of the mission.
In all civilian applications of UAVs, the flying vehicle is primarily used to generate a variety of data to meet with the requirements of the user. Analysis of the collected data is central to the success of the mission. The cost of the exercise is proportional to the length of the mission, the quantum of data collected and its complexity. These drive cost upwards.
A major impediment to the use of UAVs by civilian agencies is the absence of national and international legislation…
Notwithstanding all these constraints, there has been a boom in the use of UAVs in civilian applications both in India and abroad. They have been used in fields as diverse as advertising, film industry, wedding photography, travel portals, crowd and traffic management as well as monitoring solar panels in the desert. UAVs have also been used to monitor wildlife migration, movement of ice floes in the Arctic, fire-fighting and companies are even looking at providing home delivery of supplies. Drones have been used for monitoring of environmental and pollution controls. They were flown over the Fukushima nuclear power plant to check the damage and measure radio activity as well as border controls and counter-terrorism operations.
The projected use of UAVs in the civilian market is phenomenal but the potential has not generally been realised and a large gap exists between the theoretical applications and the actual use by public and private industry However, there are a number of successes but these have been in niche areas.
The impediments to civilian use of UAVs are many and include civil safety and environmental certification, standards for manufacturing and operation, use of the radio frequency spectrum for controlled flight, data transfer, export control regime due to restrictions on technology transfer and insurance liability. All these issues can be addressed but the major challenge is the integration of UAVs with traffic in controlled civil airspace.
Integration with Civil Traffic
Military UAVs generally fly in tightly controlled airspaces where there is no access to civilian aircraft and the control of all military aircraft and UAVs in that airspace is exercised by a central agency. Military UAVs are also designed to be flown in enemy airspace where the safety of the opposing forces is of no concern to the UAV operator.
Most civilian applications require the UAV to fly at lower than 1,000 feet…
In the niche civilian segment, UAVs are flown in highly restricted controlled airspace where there is either no access to civilian aircraft or very limited access to civil airspace. These flights are only permitted for specific times, locations or operations.
Article 8 of the ICAO Regulations states, “No aircraft capable of being flown without a pilot shall be flown over the territory of a contracting State without special authorisation by that State and in accordance with the terms of such authorisation. Each contracting State undertakes to insure that the flight of such aircraft without a pilot in regions open to civil aircraft shall be so controlled as to obviate danger to civil aircraft.”
Unfettered use of UAVs for civilian applications requires that they be permitted to access non-segregated civil airspace and here the problems faced by military and civilian UAVs have much in common. The use of drones in war zones has been beset with accidents and the issue of accountability for mistakes has raised ethical questions. The introduction of drones into civilian airspace can only be done after the UAV industry demonstrates an acceptable degree of safety and addresses the question of who is accountable should there be an accident. Even a small 25 kg drone crashing from a height of 200 metres can cause significant damage. Instances have also been reported of near-miss between UAVs and manned aircraft.
The systems for controlling UAVs has to make them as safe as aircraft with pilots, which necessarily means that they must have the ability to “see and avoid” collision. The pilot’s response to visual and verbal cues is an essential part of safe flying of a manned aircraft. A system has also to be evolved to “sense and avoid” to ensure separation from other aircraft, birds, obstructions and skydivers. There is also a need to ensure that the allocated frequency for control of the UAV is secure in order to ensure protection from unintentional or unlawful interference with the operation of the UAV. A case in point is the alleged interception and downing by Iran of an American UAV by hijacking the communication link.
The security situation in India is such that even manned private civil aviation has severe restrictions on operations…
Current security rules preclude the entry of any unauthorised person into the cockpit of an plane in the air. The same rule has to be applicable to the entry of personnel into the control station of the UAV. Lastly, like a piloted aircraft, the UAV should be able to continue flying safely and land autonomously in the event of a control and communication failure.
A major impediment to the use of UAVs by civilian agencies is the absence of national and international legislation and regulation governing UAV flight management in unrestricted civilian airspace open for all categories of civil aircraft which includes all non-military aviation representing both private and commercial flight.
Initiatives by ICAO
Most countries are members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and work towards establishing common standards and recommended practices for civil aviation. If UAV operations are to be introduced into civil airspace, they have to conform to universal practices adopted by all signatories of ICAO. The problem is that ICAO has not adopted any regulations in this regard but the process has been initiated. The ICAO is developing a regulatory framework for integrating UAVs into civilian airspace.
The ICAO recognises that the UAV is not merely an aircraft which is singular and defines UAVs as a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) which consists of “a remotely piloted plane, one or more remote piloting stations, flown by remote pilots who work for an RPAS operator.” Thus, the remotely piloted aircraft will need a certificate of airworthiness, the RPAS operator must be certified like the air operator certificate and the remote pilot has to be licensed. ICAO is working on an RPAS manual to be published in 2014 offering guidelines of the related standards.
UAVs have the potential to cause mayhem in the hands of those inimical to the country’s security…
Between 2016 and 2018, ICAO plans to issue Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and Procedure for Air Navigation (PANs) for aircraft, operators, licensing, sense and avoid standards, communications and basic Air Traffic Management (ATM) procedures. It is expected that by the year 2020-2023, SARPs will be refined to add aerodrome requirements and expanded ATMs.
ICAO plans that all requirements for operating RPAS will be in place by 2028 and all member countries will be signatories to the new regulations for unmanned aircraft. Till then, member countries are required to regulate UAV flights in their sovereign airspace and some countries are moving ahead to ensure that their procedures are in place before the ICAO deadline.
The US Congress passed a bill in February 2012 requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evolve procedures for the integration of UAVs into civilian airspace by 2015. Initially the FAA is expected to publish rules for the operation of small UAVs that weigh no more than 55 pounds. The European Commission plans to do likewise by 2018 and similar initiatives are being taken by a number of other countries.
The Indian Scenario
India can use UAVs for monitoring exploitation of natural resources by the mining industry, encroachment of forest lands, disaster management, discharge of pollutants into rivers and coastal areas, surveillance of gas and oil pipelines, policing of borders, aerial survey of agriculture and a host of other applications. Much of this work can be done by civil agencies to whom the work would be outsourced but there are a number of organisational and security concerns that have to be addressed if the civilian and commercial use of UAVs in India is to take off.
The security situation in India is such that even manned private civil aircraft have severe restrictions on operations.
Most civilian applications require the UAV to fly at lower than 1,000 feet where there are no civilian manned aircraft and in areas far away from scheduled aircraft routes which pose no real danger to civil aviation. Despite that, UAVs cannot be permitted to operate till such time regulations pertaining to ownership of the UAV, insurance liability, airworthiness of the craft, licensing of the pilot and availability of beyond line of sight communication spectrum are in place. If ever UAVs are to be permitted to fly in Indian civilian airspace, the DGCA has to draft regulations and set standards for UAV systems in conformity with the ICAO regulations.
In India, the growth of civil air traffic is putting pressure on the available airspace and the introduction of UAVs into the same airspace will further aggravate the situation. Presently, all UAV flying is undertaken with permission from the DGCA and/or the Ministry of Defence since UAV flying is primarily carried out by the military or government agencies. The security situation in India is such that even manned private civil aircraft have severe restrictions on operations.
It is an accepted fact that UAVs have the potential to cause mayhem in the hands of those inimical to the country’s security and therefore the promulgation of guidelines to fly private UAVs without any special clearances seems to be a distant dream. However, India as a signatory of ICAO is required to formulate its own rules and regulations towards permitting UAVs and manned planes to fly in the same airspace.
In view of the difficulties in integrating UAVs into civilian airspace, will they, in the near future, be whizzing around the neighbourhood tracking traffic, providing emergency medical aid, monitoring pipelines, fighting fires or delivering pizzas? Much will depend on the close collaboration between the industry and government agencies in getting the DGCA to move with speed and be responsive to the needs of UAV operators.
References
Stimson Centre Washington; Emerging Uses of UAV Technology Brandenburg Institute of Society and Security.
FAA Regulations for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
FAA: Integration of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the National Airspace System Roadmap 2013.
International Regulatory Framework for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, ICAO.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Seminar Lima, Peru, April 18 – 20, 2012 .
European Aviation Safety Agency: UAV Task Force Final Report.
NASA: Civil UAV Capability Assessment
Non-Military UAV Applications: Dr Alexander V Koldaev 2007.
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