Military drones’ wings are clipped

Leaps in unmanned aircraft technology have military authorities clamoring to use drones for everything from coastal patrols and border surveillance to tracking natural disasters. But fears of midair collisions are slowing any broad expansion of their domestic use.

Federal Aviation Administration officials made it clear in a recent closed government conference that until the pilotless aircraft gain the high-tech ability to sense and avoid commercial aircraft and other airborne objects, the government is unlikely to allow them to operate much more freely in congested airspace.

For the military, it’s a frustrating limitation. For the FAA, it’s a matter of safety.

During the Northern California wildfires last summer, the Air Force, Navy and NASA each offered to launch unmanned systems to track the flames, identify hot spots and determine where the fires were likely to move. But because of FAA guidelines, only a single drone could fly in the region at a time.

NASA’s Ikhana -- a variant of the military’s Predator unmanned aircraft -- got the first call, largely because of the space agency’s ability to merge its thermal-infrared imagery with Google Earth maps to help project evacuation needs and fire movement.

The military argued that the Ikhana could be flown at the same time as one of the Navy’s or Air Force’s high-altitude Global Hawks because the aircraft would be as much as 40,000 feet apart in altitude. The additional drone, officials said, would provide broader, more comprehensive coverage of the disaster.

In the end, Global Hawks operated by the Navy and Air Force were flown at separate times from the NASA drone.

Military officials raised the firefighting incident as an example of expanded drone uses during a two-day summit at U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month. At the meeting, up to 100 senior leaders from at least 10 government agencies tried to resolve some of the problems that restrict the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in American airspace.

Aviation officials at the summit said they were looking at ways to carve up restricted airspace zones in order to give agencies the ability to fly more than one drone at a time over a particular disaster area.

“I realize that [the Defense Department] has been very comfortable with using UAVs at will in Iraq and Afghanistan airspace,” said John Allen, director of Flight Standards Service for the FAA, during an interview with the Associated Press. “And there is a reality check when they bring them stateside and try to utilize them and realize there are restrictions.”

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency expected to have a plan covering drone use in place next year, and would try to work with military and other officials in the coming fire and hurricane seasons to perhaps allow some type of staggered flights if needed.

The increasing demand for drones raises complex questions because the aircraft are piloted remotely, often from thousands of miles away. Their intrusion into crowded air traffic lanes would require constant monitoring and coordination to avoid airliners, small propeller planes, tall buildings and possibly each other.

FAA officials say sudden emergencies would call for fast action as well, and require that the drone -- or its off-site pilot -- be able to see or sense its entire 360-degree surroundings. Those capabilities do not yet exist to the degree required by the FAA.

Aviation authorities worry that faulty communications or other problems could sever ties between the unmanned aircraft and its remote pilot, leaving the drone blind and uncommanded as it neared approaching objects.

Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, head of U.S. Northern Command, acknowledged that the air summit resulted in no immediate changes. But he said it was a success because it was the start of “what I believe to be a better-integrated effort to apply the technology of unmanned systems to disaster response.”

At the meeting, Renuart said, authorities laid out their needs for unmanned aircraft to aviation officials. That allowed the military to begin to address potential changes in aviation guidelines, while still ensuring the safe operation of the drones.

Progress will be slow, officials said. High-tech sense-and-avoid technology exists, but only in early stages. According to Allen, it may be at least a decade away from practical aviation use.

Officials are hoping the FAA will streamline its approval process for the use of drones. Last year, the FAA granted 165 certificates of approval for drones, mostly for the Pentagon and border protection during national emergencies or disasters. The certificates shut down swaths of airspace so the drones can fly unimpeded, and approvals can be for a single launch or for multiple flights over several days.