Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2011-2036 - Defense ...

Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2011-2036
6 AIRSPACE INTEGRATION (AI)
6.1 Functional Description
Over the past several years, UAS have become a transformational force multiplier for DoD.
The numbers and roles of UAS have expanded dramatically to meet mission demands, and
operational commanders have come to rely upon robust and persistent ISR support from
unmanned platforms executing their core missions against hostile forces. DoD UAS require
routine NAS access in order to execute operational, training, and support missions and to support
broader military and civil demands. UA will not achieve their full potential military utility to do
what manned aircraft do unless they can go where manned aircraft go with the same freedom of
navigation, responsiveness, and flexibility. Military aviation is a major contributor to the virtue
of maneuver for our forces in warfare.
While the force structure continues to grow, the ability to integrate UAS into the NAS has
not kept pace. Current access for UAS is greatly limited primarily due to FAA regulatory
compliance issues that govern UAS operations in the NAS. DoD UAS operations conducted
outside of restricted, warning, and prohibited areas are authorized only under a (temporary) COA
from the FAA. Similar issues need to be resolved for access to international and foreign national
airspace.
The DoD UAS Airspace Integration Plan, March, 2011 provides a more comprehensive
discussion on the topic of AI. In this plan, DoD provides an incremental approach strategy to
provide DoD UAS access to a given operations profile that leads to a full dynamic operations
solution. This methodology recognizes that DoD requires access to differing classes and types of
airspace as soon as possible and that routine dynamic operations will likely take several years to
implement. Figure 12 depicts the six access profiles.
Figure 12. Operational View.
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