UAV's

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) also known as drones have advanced so rapidly in the past few decades that they have become one of the hallmark technologies of the 21st century. Going from something of a novelty to a game changing system. There are even fears (hopes for some) that this technology will eliminate my profession. That day may or may not come and always seems far away when speculated over but we would be wise to remember that few saw the rise of UAV's in the first place.

One of the biggest proponents of the civilian use of drones is Amazon. In a formal letter to the FAA (Misener, P.) Amazon officially asked for an exemption to some FAR's in order to conduct further outdoor testing of their drones which can carry payloads of 5 lbs and go above 50 mph. Amazon hopes that with full function of their  drone delivery service they can get packages to their customers in under 30 minutes. They also hope to normalize the use of commercial drones so that seeing them will be "as normal as seeing mail trucks...". The FAA was mandated by congress a few years ago to make the national airspace system (NAS) open to commercial drone operators while maintaining safety for other aircraft. This task has proved challenging for the FAA considering that unmanned aircraft can not "see & avoid" other aircraft but rather have to "sense & avoid". There have been multiple documented cases of drones almost crashing into commercial airliners in recent years leading many pilots to question what airspace they will be allowed to fly in and just how good their sensors are. These concerns have led to the FAA missing multiple deadlines to release their new regulations. Until these regs are released commercial drone use will remain stifled.

Drones will soon be interrogated into the NAS. Its not as though machines designed for flight have anywhere else to go. But while the sky is massive it has become more and more crowded over time. Areas that were once empty swathes of airspace are now bustling hubs. Even so the NAS has never been safer through the professionalism of pilot & air traffic controller (ATC) training, & proactive approaches to safety such as systems safety (SMS) & crew resource management (CRM). The major problem is that UAV's don't use these systems or techniques. While a pilot may be monitoring a drone (along with others simultaneously) it is mainly flown by its programming. It does not interact with ATC because they generally avoid airports or high altitude. SMS is only now finally catching on with the airlines and UAV's by definition do not have crews. They are flying robots and robots don't interact with humans without direct commands to do so. That puts the onus on the algorithms of the drones software to always make the right aviation decision. Anyone who has ever piloted knows that you are never more than a few bad choices from a catastrophic failure. Its not a question of weather they can fly (we have had autopilots for years) but if they can pilot and pilot well. The biggest hurdle for drones will be the public's perception of them. As one expert put it "There are so many myths surrounding the unmanned system world — what we are, what we aren't, Are we professionals? Or are we nothing but a bunch of cowboys..." (Mariani, R.)

UAV's in combat have changed warfare. According to Von Schrader: (Von Schrader, W.) "...the United States has utilized a revolutionary new tool, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, with increasing frequency and lethality to eliminate hostile militants and Al Qaeda operatives around the world. Their use in warzones like Iraq and Afghanistan have played a large role in saving the lives of American soldiers, offering better real time information about enemy troop movements, as well as significant levels of air support." As much as I love the sheer power of the engines on modern fighter jets the focus on extreme speed and maneuverability for dogfights make them vary inefficient to offer close air support. Drones on the other hand (many of which are propeller driven) can loiter over an area for hours or even days stalking their target and being unmanned can have control switched over to new operators every few hours. Having much more time to conduct an airstrike has allowed drone pilots to reduce instances of collateral damage, further increasing government support for their use.

In my research of UAV jobs one of the top links (Job Details) was sponsored by General Atomics to fly an MQ-9 Reaper as a civilian for the Air Force out of Creech AFB, Nevada. While you obviously needed previous AF training on the platform to be qualified I found it surprising that the job of piloting one of the mainstay killing machines of the AF is open to a private citizen with a security clearance. The job also specifically states that you are a regular "9 to 5" salaried employee of General Atomics and you can not be deployed. Talk about a day job!

References

Misener, P. (2014, July 9). Amazon Petition for Exemption. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/rowland/AmazonPetitionforExemption_July92014.pdf

Mariani, R. (2013, October 22). Rise of the Drones. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2013/10/the_rise_of_the_dron.html

Von Schrader, W. (2012, December 11). The Terminators: Is America's drone campaign really winning the War on Terror? | The Chicago Monitor. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://chicagomonitor.com/2012/12/the-terminators-is-americas-drone-campaign-really-winning-the-war-on-terror/

Job Details. (2015, January 1). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?jobId=1112755&partnerid=25539&siteid=5313