Roundtable: development of civilian UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles are part of the technological landscape. It’s no longer remarkable to think of a robotic aircraft carrying out routine surveillance operations or even armed missions, although the latter remains controversial. But use of autonomous or remotely-piloted aircraft is, at the moment, confined to the military. Manufacturers and developers would like to be able to develop UAVs — more properly, UASs or unmanned aircraft systems, as the vehicle itself is only a part of the operation — for civilian duties.

However, the regulatory landscape makes it difficult to operate UAVs in the UK. Currently, UAVs above a certain size can only be flown in controlled airspace, segregated away from other aircraft; currently the only site is at ParcAberforth on Cardigan Bay in Wales, next to, and on land owned by, West Wales airport.

This isn’t the only barrier to expanded development of UAVs. The market for unmanned aircraft outside the armed forces is uncertain. Surveillance systems of all types are controversial and unpopular with the public, with sections of the press rarely missing an opportunity to run alarmist stories about ‘snoops’ and ‘spies’. There are undeniable safety concerns about how unmanned vehicles would operate in crowded airspace. Moreover, the most heavily publicised use of UAVs — as armed ‘drones’ carrying out missile strikes in war zones, sometimes with dreadful collateral casualties — is likely to foment even more uneasiness and opposition.