Final FAA-mandated UAV test site established in Virginia

In December 2013 the FAA selected six test sites that would help facilitate the utilisation of UAVs in national airspace, all of which have subsequently opened since April 2014.

The measures were a result of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, in which the administration was mandated by Congress to ensure UAVs can be fully integrated into the national airspace by 30 September 2015. The sixth and final US Federal Aviation Administration-mandated unmanned air vehicle (UAV) test site has been established in Virginia.

The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University test site officially opened on 13 August, and follows the opening of the other sites in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota and Texas.

Appeal of UAV ruling pressures FAA to establish rules

The legal skirmish has focused a bright spotlight on the FAA and turned up the pressure for the federal agency to establish rules for controlled use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs. Congress has ordered the FAA to set new UAV rules by September 2015 but many observers expect the agency will not meet its deadline. Currently operators of small UAVs or radio-controlled model planes flying below 400 feet can do so only for non-commercial uses, according to FAA operating standards spelled out in a 1981. That was decades before UAV operators saw the potential for aerial photography, crop-dusting and dozens of other commercial uses already permitted around the globe.

Francia se interesa por los Reaper

 

El Ministro de Defensa Jean-Ives Le Drian afirma que Francia está buscando UAVs de última generación para llevar a cabo misiones de inteligencia y eventualmente de combate. El armamento con que cuenta Francia está anticuado y la reciente intervención militar en Malí ha dejado tan patente su deficiente stock de UAVs adaptados a la guerra del siglo XXI, que ha sido Estados Unidos quien ha tenido que prestarle sus UAVs con base en Niger para llevar a cabo misiones de inteligencia.

 

 

"Necesitamos disponer a corto plazo de esos aparatos. Hay actualmente dos países que construyen UAVs: los Estados Unidos e Israel. Estamos en negociaciones con cada uno para comprar algo de manera inmediata." dijo Le Drian en el canal de TV iTele. Por su parte, el diario Le Monde ha revelado que Francia ha recibido la aprobación del Pentágono para comprar dos UAVs General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, y que la venta sólo necesita ya el respaldo del Congreso. El periódico añadió que Francia está negociando la compra de entre cinco y siete Reapers por 300 millones de euros. El objetivo según Le Monde es desplegarlos en Mali antes de que finalice este año.

 

Wary eyes shift to the skies as unmanned aircraft are tested in state

 

Unmanned aircraft are being tested in Oklahoma for possible civilian uses, such as by police departments. But testing of the state-of-the-art crafts also has raised privacy concerns. (Read more)