The recent commencement of low-altitude Customs and Immigration patrols by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along the Arizona/Mexico border and the earlier nonstop, totally automated, transpacific and transatlantic flights above FL600 by the USAF’s Global Hawk (AIN, December, page 54) are strong signals that one day the altitude gap between these two will close, and we’ll have unmanned aircraft sharing our airspace. When will that day arrive? One organization, the Access-5 consortium of NASA, DOD, the FAA and the leading UAV builders, aims within five years to have UAVs flying on IFR flight plans between FL180 and FL400.
UAVs are no longer oddities, found only in war zones. It is currently estimated that some 32 countries are developing or manufacturing more than 250 different UAVs, which are operated by 41 nations. And while virtually all of these are military machines, a wide range of commercial applications, from agricultural work to very high-altitude telecommunications repeater stations and environmental monitors– where the vehicles could stay aloft for months–will inevitably emerge. In Japan, UAVs are already routinely spraying crops. One result of this progress is a flurry of activity to ensure that today’s level of aviation safety is not compromised.
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