President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders that seek to strengthen U.S. leadership in the development and commercialization of unmanned aircraft systems and ensure U.S. sovereignty over national airspace amid threats posed by UAS.
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Advancing UAS Integration Into the National Airspace System
The White House said Friday the EO titled Unleashing American Drone Dominance directs the secretary of the Department of Transportation to release an updated roadmap for the integration of civil UAS into the national airspace system within 240 days.
The DOT secretary should ensure that all Federal Aviation Administration drone test ranges are fully utilized to advance the development, testing and scaling of U.S.-built drones with a focus on beyond visual line of sight operations, advanced air mobility and autonomous operations.
Delivering Drones to Warfighters
The new policy directs the secretary of the Department of Defense to ensure that all platforms on the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS List can operate on all military bases or ranges without requiring an exception and expand the Blue UAS list within 90 days to include all drones and critical components compliant with section 848 of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
Within 90 days, the DOD secretary should coordinate with the secretary of transportation to streamline the approval process to broaden access to airspace for conducting drone training and task each military department to identify programs that would be more cost-efficient if replaced by UAS.
Other provisions include the establishment of an electric vertical takeoff and landing pilot program, efforts to strengthen the U.S. drone industrial base and measures to support the export of U.S.-made civil drones and related systems through the use of direct loans, loan guarantees, equity investments and co-financing, among other mechanisms.
Task Force to Restore US Airspace Sovereignty
The president signed another EO that directs the establishment of the Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, which will be chaired by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
The task force will review technical, operational and regulatory frameworks and propose solutions to UAS threats.
Airspace Regulations to Ensure Public Safety
The presidential action, Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty, requires the FAA administrator to submit a notice of proposed rulemaking to the Office of Management and Budget and the task force establishing the required process for restricting drone flights over fixed site facilities.
Within 180 days, the FAA administrator should make notices to airmen and temporary flight restrictions freely available online for drone geofencing and aircraft navigation and guidance system purposes.
Building Counter-Drone Capacity
Within 30 days, the attorney general and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security should explore integrating counter-UAS operational responses as part of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to protect mass gathering events.
The policy also directs the administration to establish a national training center for counter-UAS to develop the needed counter-drone capacity to secure major events.
Other provisions in the EO include requiring the FAA administrator and attorney general to boost enforcement of civil and criminal laws against drone operators endangering the public, violating airspace restrictions or committing a crime; authorizing federal agencies to use existing authorities to detect, track and identify drones and UAS signals; publishing guidance to help private critical infrastructure owners and operator use drone detection technologies; and calling for a risk-based assessment to designate large airports, borders, critical infrastructure and military installations as protected areas.
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