House of Lords Inquiry into Civil RPAS

RPAS (or Unmanned Air Vehicle / Systems [UAV/UAS]) are a hot topic internationally at the moment.  The House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, is to hold an inquiry into the civil use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in the European Union.

Written evidence is sought by Friday 19 September 2014. Public evidence sessions will be held in October and November 2014.

The hearings will be held by the un-snazzily titled  “Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment Sub-Committee of the House of Lords European Union Committee”, which for once makes the unmanned community’s acronyms look simplistic.  They explain:

The European Commission has been discussing since 2012 how to regulate the operations of RPAS in the EU. It published a Communication on 8 April 2014 setting out its ideas on how European industry can become a global leader in the market for this emerging technology. At the same time, it acknowledged that the integration of RPAS into the EU’s airspace must be accompanied by adequate public debate on societal concerns…

The Committee will consider whether the Commission has identified the key issues in this debate, and how the EU’s actions can benefit the RPAS industry in Europe in a way that is acceptable to all stakeholders. In its deliberation the Committee will look at wider questions such as the advantages and disadvantages of regulating RPAS at national, EU or international level and the new and innovative ways in which RPAS are likely to be used in the future.

Currently, regulation of UAS in the UK is described in the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) CAP722 document.

Aerossurance is also aware of progress of work by the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA), announced last year, to overhaul the regulatory framework military UAS/RPAS, with an Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) to the MAA Regulatory Publications (MRPs) likely by year end.

Aerossurance has experience in UAS/RPAS going back to the mid 1990s.  If you want to discuss their safety, technical, operational and regulatory issues, contact Aerossurance at: enquiries@aerossurance.com

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