Last month, the draft guidelines for civil UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operations were announced by the DGCA (directorate general of civil aviation) clearing the way for a long pending demand by the UAV community in India.

Although a tad late, the announcement nevertheless is a breath of fresh air. UAVs since their inception into the Indian military in the mid 90s, are now being used by civilian government agencies, public and private sector entities, lending institutions for the purposes of law and order, planning, data gathering, monitoring.

UAV technologies usher in efficiency into a system and significantly bring down costs in the medium to long run.

All aerial platforms of the future will be either unmanned or OPVs (optionally piloted vehicles), meaning it may have the option of having an on-board pilot besides having the capability to perform unmanned flight operations.

The future beckons Majority of innovations in the UAV technologies are now emerging from the private sector in countries with a vibrant UAV sector, although critical areas in defence such as stealth and artificial intelligence continue to be funded by governments.

UAV platforms, related sensors and other technologies are now beginning to form a significant part of the aerospace sector and will become the main thrust area in the years to come. India lags far behind in development of UAV platforms, on board avionics, payloads and sensors. Regardless of India’s position in the sector, innovation in the UAV technologies has outpaced regulation faster than one can imagine. There are new CONOPS (concept of operations) for deliveries, mapping, monitoring being developed and deployed on a regular basis, thereby continuously expanding the scope and limits of unmanned flight operations.

The DGCA must take into account this fact and be wise in framing guidelines that will not stifle innovation and growth in UAV technologies by both domestic and foreign players in India.

The draft guidelines recently issued call for the requirement of UAOP (unmanned aircraft operator permit) for all UAV operators as well as a UIN (unique identification number) for all UAVs.

Weeding out amateurs This will go a long way in weeding out the amateurs who have done a great disservice to the reputation of the UAV industry. There have numerous cases of civilian aircraft and civilian UAV near misses and in some cases even collisions, apart from privacy issues, leading to a serious doubt regarding the efficacy of permitting UAVs in the controlled civilian airspace.

While the registration of UAVs and their operators is a must, the operational limits of micro as well as the mini UAVs range has been restricted to meagre 500m. This is an extremely limiting factor for the purposes of mapping and monitoring of large infrastructure projects such as power lines, highways, river basin and parcel delivery, requiring long range flight operations.

This restriction should be revised to two kilometre operations at 400 feet above ground level (AGL) and 10 km operations at 3,000 ft AGL or BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) operations should be allowed in non-sensitive areas that are away from airports, defence establishment and non-urban areas.

With regards to applications to the DGCA, they should be made only online and there should be a single window for all clearances for the allocation of UIN, UAOP for flights above 200 AGL, and personal appearance may be required only in cases where it is considered necessary.

Regulatory issues There should be a specific time limit for the grant of numbers and permits and also for flights above 200 AGL. The requirement of an ADC clearance for operations below 200 ft AGL may be restricted to only notify in places where there are defence establishments and air force stations, in other areas DM (district magistrates) permission may be sufficient.

The DGCA may charge a reasonable fee for the service but calling applicants to the office should be occassional until and unless there are doubts about the integrity of the applicant. The form for obtaining certificate of character from the sub-divisional officer police should be prescribed by the DGCA and there should also be no restriction on the import of parts for UAVs.

The guidelines pertaining to the participation of foreign operators should also be included in the revised draft and discussed with the stakeholders prior to finalisation, as not doing so could become an impediment in the key areas related to training, testing, technology transfer, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) of UAV’s and may eventually affect the ‘Make in India’ initiative, where foreign participation will be a necessity.

The DGCA regulations must provide for a level playing field for the private sector so that innovation, growth and more importantly adopting of UAV technologies by end users can become commonplace. The DGCA must initiate multi stakeholder engagement process to develop a framework for privacy, accountability, and transparency issues concerning commercial and private UAV use in line with the PM’s policy of ease of doing business.

These regulations will finally set the stage for the creation of a vibrant UAV industry in India. UAVs of today are a precursor to next generation aerospace technologies. Unless we bring in the right set of regulations, the investor community will be once again reluctant to take a leap of faith in the development of the UAV industry.

Bhattacharjee is former India head of General Dynamics and Sivaraman is a strategic adviser for Kadet Defence Systems. The views are personal

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