Mark Bathrik, director of the Interior Department’s Office of Aviation Services, told attendees at a Brookings Institution event that airspace regulations should also involve unmanned aerial systems that fly below 400 feet, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.
Bathrik said he is pleased with the government’s increased investment in small UAS technologies. However, he has concerns over regulators potentially enforcing stringent policies to prevent drones from impacting line-of-sight activities.
“I worry that we’re going to overregulate and over-equip drones that don’t ever need to fly beyond visual line of sight,†Bathrik said.
OAS deploys more than 670 drones that utilize sensor data to assist in operations such as federal land management, dam inspections, animal migration tracking and other flood, fire and volcano-related missions.
Related Articles
Emil Michael, the Department of Defense’s under secretary of defense for research and engineering—its unofficial chief technology officer—has taken on the role of acting director of the Defense Innovation Unit, Defense News reported Tuesday. Michael’s appointment follows Doug Beck’s resignation as head of DIU. As the Pentagon’s CTO, Michael is responsible for DOD’s research, development and prototyping enterprise with oversight of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Missile Defense Agency. In May, he was confirmed by the Senate for the under secretary for research and engineering position. Who Is Emil Michael? Michael’s industry career included time as Uber’s
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has formally appointed Brian Bonacci as its new chief of staff. CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala swore Bonacci in during a ceremony attended by Bonacci’s family. Learn about the latest in U.S. homeland security programs, efforts and strategic initiatives at the 2025 Homeland Security Summit, where industry experts will gather to discuss the most pressing threats facing the country and the measures being implemented to counteract them. Register now for this exciting GovCon event. Who Is Brian Bonacci? The new chief of staff brings more than three decades of federal information technology leadership to
Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of Information Solutions at Deltek and a six-time Wash100 awardee, said artificial intelligence is helping government contractors streamline proposal development processes. In a blog post published June 25 on Deltek’s website, Plexico wrote that AI has become a “brainstorming companion” by enabling proposal teams to respond to requests for information, draft capture plans, develop compliance matrices and break down complex requests for proposals into manageable components. “And these aren’t just conveniences, they’re force multipliers that elevate the entire proposal process,” noted Plexico, a GovCon Expert. “Proposal teams that embrace AI will have the edge through greater speed, sharper