The Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration have moved to limit usage of military airspace for testing unmanned aerial vehicles, Inside GNSS reported Monday.
Dee Ann Divis writes the decision comes as aerospace organizations prepare to test drones under a government program to integrate commercial drones into the National Airspace System.
The FAA chose six test sites in late 2013 to help piloted and unmanned aircraft share the same airspace and some of the site operators proposed using airspace reserved for military activities, according to the article.
Divis reports that DoD policies allow civilian researchers to fly drones at major range and test facility bases but they would have to give way to defense users.
Congress asked the FAA and DoD to develop procedures for joint testing of unmanned aerial systems intended to support combatant command operations as well as border security programs.
