US Aviation Industry

Are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) the future of Aviation?

UAVs have been a growing trend in recent years. As reported by the ICAO (2021) in 2021, the global market for transport and logistic using UAVs is projected to grow from USD 11 billion in 2022 to USD 29 billion by 2027. This increase in usage of UAVs are tentatively a call for aviation authorities to develop more refined regulations to be meted out in response to the foreseeable future on UAVs being part of the aviation industry. With an increase in autonomous vehicles on the ground, it is no surprise that eventually, UAVs might play a huge part within the aviation industry. From air transport of passengers and goods, to surveillance, and recreational uses, these are some of the aspects that UAVs can replace the general aviation applications that we see today. Despite the many uses that UAVs can contribute towards the aviation industry in terms of efficiency and creating capacity, there are some aspects that might actually pose a threat to the existing aviation ecosystem.

For example, UAVs such as drones can be used as a surveillance technique to gather data and also hack ground and air systems which poses a cyber threat. Due to it being relatively small and inexpensive to build in nature, the deployment of the unmanned aircraft system can be discreet and yet pose significant threat to the aviation industry as it can even be used to transport and deploy weapon systems of any nature (Schóber et al., 2012). Because it is so small, most unmanned aircraft systems may even go undetected by radars which can be extremely dangerous as it potentially infringes airspaces. In worse cases, it can also lead to damage to aircraft as it intercepts an aircraft's flight path.

In order to manage the increase in UAV usage across the world, ICAO (2021) actually developed a framework for aviation authorities to follow as a guideline for implementation of regulations on the use of UAVs within their nation by taking reference from the Chicago convention. Drawing example from the US for its regulation on UAVs, it is stipulated under the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR, n.d.) that all UAVs operated within the United States with take off weight less that 0.55 pounds needs to be marked and registered be it for personal or military use. Furthermore, the license to operate needs to be renewed every 3 years and the intent for use needs to be specified within the application (CFR). In a sense, this is being used to control and regulate the use of UAVs in the event of any incidents and ensuring the users remain accountable.

As the use of UAVs are still in its infant stages, regulations are not as robust as other platforms within the aviation industry. However, it is important for aviation authorities to constantly monitor and access the need for changes and updates to it regulations in order to accommodate and facilitate the increased usage of UAVs in the near future.

References

CFR. (n.d.). 14 CFR Part 48 subpart a -- general. Code of Federal Regulations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-48/subpart-A

ICAO. (2021). Emerging and Cross-cutting Aviation Issues — Increased use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). https://www.icao.int/annual-report-2021/Pages/emerging-and-cross-cutting-aviation-issues-increased-use-of-unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas.aspx

Schóberer, T., Koblen, I., & Szabó, S. (2012). Present and potential security threats posed to civil aviation. INCAS Buletin, 4(2), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.13111/2066-8201.2012.4.2.17