Group seeks approval for civil UAVs
Civil certification of unmanned aerial vehicles has taken on new momentum over the past few years with the realization that there could be a large number o

Civil certification of unmanned aerial vehicles has taken on new momentum over the past few years with the realization that there could be a large number of potential uses for them–from law enforcement to, eventually, air cargo. A UK-based European consortium now claims to be leading the world to get UAVs approved for flights in civil airspace in conjunction with Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority.

According to Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal, BAE Systems engineering director for systems and strategy, the company came relatively late to the unmanned aircraft business. “But now we are trying to catch up and jump a generation,” he said.