Finds UAVs Represent A Great Opportunity For The Continent

The SESAR Joint Undertaking has developed insights related to the use of 'drones' which refers to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV); this includes, as a subset, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). The findings have recently been released in the form of a European Drone Outlook Study that projects market growth and trends through 2050.

According to the report's executive summary, 'Drones' have been instrumental in providing new capabilities for European defence and have demonstrated significant growth as a consumer leisure product. Drones are offering public safety and security authorities new capabilities much in the same way they have for the military and are transforming commercial businesses. A core component to these new capabilities and transformations is the collection of data from strategic vantage points that have been either inaccessible or too expensive to be economically viable today. This core area of data processing is being extended to include the efficient transport of urgently needed goods within a local community or industrial site with longer term aspirations to transform large commercial vehicles for both cargo transport and also, someday, passenger transport.

Europe – with a strong mix of leadership in aerospace and defence, innovative forces developing both drone products and services and industrial leaders finding new ways to impact their businesses by leveraging the technology – is helping drive what is becoming a global industry. Europe is not alone in its strong efforts to generate value from drones. The United States (US) and China are two key States that are significantly investing into technology and innovative businesses that currently exceed the level of total European investments. In particular, the US is the leader in producing defence drone systems – followed by Israel – and China is the leader in producing leisure units that tend to be more and more used for professional purposes.

According to the report, unlocking the full potential of the market and maintaining the high standards of safety of EU aviation will require increased levels of European support. Indeed, the market is likely to be operated by many firms pursuing multi-national scale and/or conducting cross border missions (e.g., border security and maritime surveillance). Setting up a single competitive EU drone market would improve connectivity, as well as allow economic growth and the creation of jobs.

The demand of drones on all areas of the airspace highlights the critical nature of air traffic management. Overall, the potential exists for drones to represent the majority of total flight time across the entire airspace. Drones will create new forms of traffic especially at very low levels of airspace with high demand in densely populated areas where risk levels will be increased. The impact is also significant in more conventional classes of airspace, including controlled airspace where approximately 20% of flight time is expected to be remotely or optionally piloted by 2050.

“The drone market is clearly set to bring significant benefits all over Europe and the continuation of that growth appears to be a matter of not if, but when. Europe must be ready with the right procedures and technologies to manage that new traffic safely and securely. With the right level of investment and engagement from the stakeholders, we are confident that SESAR can support this endeavour,” said Florian Guillermet, Executive Director, SESAR Joint Undertaking.

The report concludes that drones represents a genuine opportunity which requires immediate EU actions The drone market has started bringing significant benefits all over Europe and the continuation of that growth appears to be a matter of not if, but when. Europe has the opportunity to obtain a significant role in this rapidly evolving global marketplace – especially in relation to services that are expected to generate the greatest sources of value. In order to unlock this value through the creation of a single market, while ensuring high safety standards already demonstrated by EU aviation, a series of immediate actions must be taken at the EU level to both boost innovative capabilities and implement comprehensive regulation that creates a single drone market.

(Source: Drone report executive summary. Images from file)

FMI: https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AUVSI/b657da80-1a58-4f8f-9971-7877b707e5c8/UploadedImages/Misc./EuropeanDronesOutlookStudy_18112016.pdf