Officials from the UK’s up-and-coming UAV test airfield are negotiating here this week with several American companies who have expressed frustration with the lack of timely cooperation from their own Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The companies–some big, some small, according to the officials–might move the development and certification of new unmanned systems for commercial applications to Parc Aberporth, on the west coast of Wales.
“The FAA has told them that they don’t have the resources to help them certify, or to approve the airspace that they need for testing,” said Andrew Chadwick, business development manager of the West Wales UAV Center (WWUAVC)–a joint venture between the airport and QinetiQ that offers full technical support to the developers of UAVs. “We are not suggesting that the companies that we’re talking to should bypass the FAA,” Chadwick added. “They could clear their test plans in advance with the U.S. authorities, and then come here to achieve initial certification by the CAA [UK Civil Aviation Authority] and EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency].”
