UVS International Background & Activities

UVS INTERNATIONAL

Background & activities

Issue Date: 12 July 2014

Correspondance & Visitors: UVS International - 86 rue Michel Ange, 2nd Building, 2nd Floor, FR-75016 Paris, FranceTel.: 33-1-46.51.88.65 - Fax: 33-1-46.51.02.55 - [email protected] - www.uvs-international.org

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INTERNATIONAL RPAS COORDINATION COUNCIL

Federating The International RPAS Community

the netherlands

UVS International: Background & Activities - 86 rue Michel Ange, 2nd Building, 2nd Floor, FR-75016 Paris, FranceTel.: 33-1-46.51.88.65 - Fax: 33-1-46.51.02.55 - [email protected] - www.uvs-international.org - 12 July 2014 - Blyenburgh © - Page: 2/32

UVS International is a non-profit association registered with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague, The Netherlands and operates out of offices in Paris, France. It represents manufacturers of remotely piloted systems (RPS), related sub-systems and critical components and associated equipment, as well as companies supplying services with or for RPS, research organisations and academia. In this context, RPS should be understood as re-useable and expendable remotely piloted air, space, terrestrial and maritime systems (civil & military), as well as non-reusable remotely piloted air, ground & naval target systems.

UVS International represents over 850 corporate, academic and institutional members in 42 countries on 5 continents, namely in:Argentina Australia Austria BelgiumBotswana Brazil Canada ChinaCzech Rep. Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong HungaryIndia Ireland Israel ItalyJapan Latvia Luxembourg MalaysiaNamibia Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Moldova Rep. Romania Russian Fed. Singapore Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland UK Ukraine USA

The objectives of UVS International are to: • Promote the development, production and use of RPS of all

sizes and in all classes.• Promote the future civil & commercial use of RPS .• Facilitate the exchange of information and co-operation in the

field of RPS between industry (manufacturers & operators), national and regional government authorities (civil & military), national aviation authorities, universities, training organisations, research & development centres, international organisations, and all other relevant stakeholders.

• Take measures in order to promote the establishment and adoption of national, regional and international regulations and legislation with respect to the use of RPS.

• Promote the establishment of RPS related standards, certification & traffic management norms on national, regional and international levels.

• Promote the establishment and introduction of acceptable insurance norms, as well as classifications and terminology in the RPS field on a national, regional and international level.

• Promote fair competition.• Provide a means to create regional and international consensual

views on topics of importance to the RPS community.• Provide the RPS community with a voice on a regional & global

level.• Provide a forum to identify and examine business opportunities

& areas of interest for the benefit of the a regional or the international RPS community.

• Facilitate the co-ordination of national regulatory efforts on a regional and global level, in order to promote harmonization.

• Instigate & co-ordinate national, regional & international RPS promotional efforts, including - amongst others - conferences, workshops, exhibitions, as well as educational events.

• Promote and instigate regional and international industrial co-operation.

• Maintain relations with national, regional, and international

organisations for the benefit of the Members.• Provide a forum for potential users to present their requirements.• Centralise RPS-related information, regulatory and other

reference documents.• Keep Members informed on international developments of

RPS related matters.• Promote co-operation between industry, R&D organisations

and academic institutions.• Study and examine possible solutions to any problem relating

to RPS, in particular scientific, technical, socio-economic, social, documentary, insurance and legal problems.

And to do everything relating to the foregoing in the broadest sense of the word and always with respect for existing safety and security standards or with the intent of attempting to improve them.

Background & milestones

UVS International originally started its activity as EURO UVS, which was instigated in June 1995, as an initiative to federate the European UVS industry. EURO UVS initially functioned as a loose federation of corporate entities without any official legal structure. In May 1998 it was incorporated in Paris, France as a French registered association. It rapidly became apparent that the French association structure and French law governing associations would not allow the association to develop in the desired direction and take on the activities it was aiming for. Consequently, it was decided to terminate its existence as a French registered association and to found a new one with the same name in The Netherlands. EURO UVS was registered with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague, The Netherlands in January 2000. The French registered association ceased to exist in May 2000.

Starting at its original inception, the association has endeavoured to have a significant number of honorary members; these honorary members are all representatives of national civil aviation authorities or serving military officers directly involved with RPS. The intent of this category of members was to create an international network, which would permit the honorary members to contact each other and discuss RPS matters of mutual interest as association members, instead of having to go through official channels, thereby making the circulation of information much faster, and at the same time creating beneficial relationships.

Starting in 1999, the association instigated the formation of national RPAS working groups consisting of industry, and in some cases government and military representatives, to deal with RPAS-related airworthiness, certification and air traffic management issues on a national level, and to exchange information amongst each other. This initiative resulted, directly or indirectly, in the formation of the following national associations:• AERPAS, Spain • ASSORPAS, Italy • AVBS, Czech Rep. • BeUAS, Belgium • DARPAS, The Netherlands • FPDF, France • Japan UAV Association • Korea UVS Association • UAS Norway, Norway • UAV DACH, Germany• UAVS, UK • Unmanned Systems CanadaUAV DACH, a multi-national German language UAS Working Group instigated by UVS International in 2000, became a national association in 2010.

uvs international

Background & activities

Federating & promoting international coordination, cooperation & information dissemination

relative to remotely piloted systems


increase of voting rights

In December 2002, the General Assembly decided to extend voting rights to include corporate members with their registered headquarters and principal place of operations in an ECAC country, namely: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Rep. of Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Rep., Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and such other countries as the association’s Board of Directors could unanimously agree on.

name + statute change & 2nd increase of voting rights

In early December 2003, the EURO UVS General Assembly decided by unanimous vote to modify its statute by granting voting rights to all corporate members, irrespective of the country in which they are established and where they deploy their principal activities, and to change its name to UVS International, in order to better reflect the association’s global character and outreach. As not all members with voting rights were present at the General Assembly, it was decided to inform all members with voting rights and permit them to cast their vote by email. All votes cast, but one, were in favour of the proposed statute amendment.

In February 2004, EURO UVS changed its name to UVS International and the association’s new statute entered into force. The new statute now permits the corporate member representatives from all countries (except those on the United Nations and/or the European Union blacklist) to submit their candidacy for a position on the association’s Board of Directors. The association’s Statute can be found at www.uvs-international.org.

organisation & management

As already indicated, UVS International is a Dutch legal entity registered in The Hague, The Netherland. However, all of its activities are deployed from offices in Paris, France, which are put at its disposal by the French registered company Blyenburgh & Co.

This company has been contractually entrusted by the UVS International Board of Directors with the day-to-day management of the association. Blyenburgh & Co has also been entrusted with the responsibility of creating and maintaining the association’s web site and organising all UVS International’s conferences & exhibitions, symposiums and workshops, which are all organized without any financial risk to UVS International, or its members.

the Board of directors

The members of the Board of Directors are elected by the association’s General Assembly for a term of two years.

In January 2006, the General Assembly voted to increase the number of Board of Director members. In February 2008, the UVS General Assembly, followed by an Extra Ordinary General Assembly in April 2008, voted to again increase the number of Board of Director members and to modify the association’s statute in order to make this possible. The current composition of the UVS International Board of Directors is indicated on the following page.

Board of Director Observer status can be granted by the Board of Directors to a deserving individual. Observers do not have voting rights concerning matters decided by the Board of Director, but can participate in all board deliberations. The possible transition from Observer to full board member is decided by the General Assembly. In February 2013, the General Assembly voted to institute a

Board of Directors with two distinct sections, namely: • an Executive Committee consisting of at least the President,

Treasurer, Secretary and having full decision-making power;• a Non-Executive Committee with advisory capabilities; and to make the necessary changes to the association’s statute.

The current composition of the UVS International Board of Directors is indicated on the pages 4 & 5.

The General Assembly in February 2013 also decided to instore a new definition of membership categories. The General Assembly in December 2013 decided to permit Partner Organisation representatives to be part of the Non-Executive Committe of the Board of Directors (see page 5).

global access initiative

In August 2005, UVS International initiated the Global Access Initiative, which has as objective to make RPAS-related information (regulatory, technical, commercial) available to all. Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International representatives have given multiple presentations at conferences worldwide. Detailed information on the Global Access Initiative and the list of presentations made throughout the world since 2006 can be found on www.uvs-info.com and in the latest edition of the RPAS Yearbook.

international rpas coordination council (ircc)

In March 2008, on suggestion of its President, the UVS International Board of Directors decided to establish the International RPAS Coordination Council (International RPAS CC). The International RPAS CC was conceived as an advisory group without a legal structure, which would function as a working group. The following types of organisations were agreed to be eligible to apply for membership in the International RPAS CC: • National associations (duly registered as such in their

respective countries);• National federations & syndicates; • National centres of excellence;• National & multi-national working groups; • National competence centres;• European technology platforms.

Two of the basic objectives of the International RPAS CC were to:• Bring the international RPAS community together without any

single organisation dominating another, and increase the flow of information to all;

• Promote international coordination, cooperation & under-standing.

The general goals of the International RPAS CC, which should be seen within the framework of UVS International’s Global Access Initiative, are:• Contribute to increasing international awareness of RPAS-

related matters;• Give national and multi-national working groups the possibility

to make their voice heard globally;• Increase the dual-directional flow of information in all fields

between all International RPAS CC members;• Be instrumental to organize and supply national inputs

to international working groups, or other RPAS-related international efforts.

The decided general scope and activities of the International RPAS CC are as follows:• International RPAS CC members supply, on a voluntary

basis, the UVS International Board of Directors with:- Recommendations on policy and/or actions to be taken

and/or new activities to be initiated by UVS International;


2014 UVS International - Board of Directors

♦ = SME/SMI <250 employees Turnover: <Euro 50 million 7 Members

● = Industry >250 employees Turonover: >Euro 50 million 8 Members

Jean CaronAirbus D & S ● France

Director - Treasurer(1st year - 6th mandate)

André ClotEuroUSC ♦ UK

Director (1st year - 1st mandate)

Horst Schmidt-BischoffshausenSTIC Consulting ♦ Germany

Director - Secretary(1st year - 2nd mandate)

Joost de RuiterHighEye ♦ The Netherlands

Director(1st year - 1st mandate)

Alexander KoldaevDB Watt-Conversion ● Russia


Simo MäkipajaPatria ● Finland

Director(1st year - 3rd mandate)

Gérard MardinéSagem DS ● France

Director(1st year - 3rd mandate)

Nick MillerThales Aerospace ● UK

Director(1st year - 6th mandate)

Itai TorenBluebird Aero Systems ♦ Israel

Director(2nd year - 1st mandate)

Peter van BlyenburghBlyenburgh & Co ♦ France

Director - President(1st year - 9th mandate)

Mikael HultCybAero ♦ Sweden


Executive Committee

Non-Executive Members

Peter La FranchiLFRG Pty Ltd ♦ Australia


RAdm (rtd) Chris AmesGeneral Atomics ● USA


Jean FournierGlobal Aerospace ● France


Alexander MedvedevIrkut Corp. ● Russia



Raoul FortnerAustrian Aeronautics Industry Group (AAI)

austria(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association

(RPAS manufacturers & research organisations)

Jürgen VerstaenBeUAS

Belgium(2nd year - 1st mandate)

National Association(RPAS manufacturers &

operators)

Emmanuel de MaistreFédération Professionnelle

du Drone Civil (FPDC)France

(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association

(RPAS manufacturers & operators)

Paolo MarrasAssociazione Italiana per

i RPAS (ASSORPAS)italy

(2nd year - 1st mandate)National Association


Ole Vidar HomleidUAS Norway

norway(1st year - 3rd mandate)

National Association(RPAS manufacturers &

operators)

Bernhard von BothmerUAV-DACH

germany(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association


Philip TarryAssociation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems

(ARPAS)

united kingdom(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association

(RPAS operators)

Manuel OnateAsociacion Espanola De

RPAS (AERPAS)

spain(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association


International RPAS Coordination Council

Non-Executive Members of the Board of Directors

Robert van NieuwlandDutch Association for

RPAS (DARPAS)the netherlands

(1st year - 2nd mandate)National Association


Joe UrliAustralian Certified UAS

Operators (ACUO)australia

(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association

(RPAS operators)

Hennie KieserCommercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of

Southern Africa (CUAASA)Botswana, namibia,

south africa(1st year - 1st mandate)

Multi-national Association(RPAS manufacturers &

operators)

Florin NedelcutUVS Romania

romania(1st year - 1st mandate)National Association



- Information for dissemination to the international RPS community.• International RPAS CC members receive from UVS

International:- Information for dissemination to its members;- Support to organize national conferences, symposiums,

workshops, etc;- Support to internationally promote national events;- Invitations to supply an article for inclusion in the annual

RPAS Yearbook.- The possibility to supply technical and opinion papers for

posting on www.uvs-info.com;- Hard copies of the annual RPAS Yearbook (for distribution

to their organisation’s members), and an electronic copy of this publication for posting on their organisation’s web site and/or intranet.

One of the drivers to create the International RPAS CC was to create a structure that would permit the international Light RPAS community to contribute in a significant way to the ongoing standards work concerning Light RPAS (<150 kg) in EUROCAE WG93 on Light RPAS. The start-up of the International RPAS CC was coordinated with the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS).

In December 2013, subsequent to the publishing of the European RPAS Roadmap, the UVS International Executive Committee decided to create the European RPAS Coordination Council (Euro RPAS CC), a sub-set of the International RPAS CC, and to instore new qualifying rules. The Euro RPAS CC was created with the objective of federating the European RPAS community (manufacturers & operators), and, under the umbrella of UVS International, form a significant and focused RPAS stakeholder group, that can make its voice heard at political level during the definition and implementation phases of the European RPAS Roadmap.

Within the framework of the General Assembly’s decision in February 2013 on the new formulation of membership categories, the General Assembly decided in December 2013 that non-corporate members in the Partner Organisation category (national association, federation, syndicate, trade union) which are duly registered with their competent national authority as a legal entity, would be admitted to the International and Euro RPAS CC, as well as to the Non-Executive Committee of the Board of Directors (with voting rights). The members of the European & International RPAS CC and their representatives are:• AAI, Austria Raoul Fortner• ACUO, Australia Joe Urli• AERPAS, Spain Manuel Onate• ARPAS, UK Philip Tarry• ASSORPAS, Italy Paolo Marras• BeUAS, Belgium Jürgen Verstaen• CUAASA, Southern Africa Hennie Kieser• DARPAS, The Netherlands Rob van Nieuwland• FPDC, France Emmanuel de Maistre• UAS Norway, Norway Ole Vidar Homleid• UAV DACH, Germany Bernhard von Bothmer• UVS Romania, Romania Adrian Nedecut

organisation of conferences & workshops

Conferences, either with or without associated exhibitions, and workshops are an important activity for the association. Most conferences organized by UVS International are technical and non-commercial and strive to bring the international remotely piloted systems community together.

The annual RPAS conference has without any doubt become

not only the largest RPAS-related conference in Europe, but also the prime international forum focussing on RPAS-related standards, airworthiness, certification, air traffic management and policy issues. It is the only event of its kind where RPAS policy is discussed.

The excellent relations that UVS International maintains with a large number of European and non-European Ministries of Defence, national civil aviation authorities, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), European Defence Agency (EDA), Eurocontrol, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS), NATO & numerous stakeholder groups, makes it possible to have significant regulatory authority, government & military participation at these events.

Since its inception, UVS International has organized or contributed to the organisation of a significant number of conferences and workshops in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, North America and South America.

uvs international news Flashes

In January 2005, UVS International initiated a news flash service for its members. By means of this service, the association supplied information (articles, press releases, etc) on RPS (air, ground, naval) to its members. This service was extended to also include all government representatives (civil & military), as well as representatives of national civil aviation authorities (CAAs), international regulatory authorities, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), international organisations, the diplomatic corps and academia, that figure in the UVS International database.

In January 2011, the aforementioned service was replaced by UAS Vision, a daily newsletter distributed by email or via an RSS feed.

uvs international web site

The association’s web site (www.uvs-international.org) features, amongst others, information on the association’s background & activities and how to join, a library with member brochures & product datasheets, a photo library with photo of RPAS produced by members, the UVS News Flash library, documents relative to various actions undertaken by the association, announcement of upcoming events, and links to its member’s web sites.

world’s largest generic rps web site

In 2006, the www.uav-info.com web site address was changed to www.uvs-info.com. This generic web site, developed by Blyenburgh & Co for the benefit of UVS International members, and the international RPS community in general, currently has three distinct sections: • Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS);• Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) Systems;• Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS).

Amongst other things, the RPAS section contains the complete 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014 editions of the RPAS yearbook, photo reports of RPAS deployments, probably the world’s largest on-line RPAS photo library (separate sections for systems produced by members & non-members), RPAS-related terms & definitions and abbreviations, the world’s largest collection of international RPAS-related regulatory documents, manufacturer’s RPAS brochures & datasheets, split in two categories (produced by members & non-members).


The UGV Section contains more than 300 technical specification forms from 140 companies in 27 countries, a UGV photo and datasheet library, generic UGV documents (studies, national roadmaps, programme overviews) and UGV system brochures.

The UMS Section contains brochures and data sheets on remotely piloted maritime systems, a photo library, generic documents (studies, national roadmaps, programme overviews).

This web site also features:• Downloadable & printable RPAS and UGV posters;• Links to the web sites of all UVS International corporate members,

national civil aviation authorities, international regulatory authorities, aviation stakeholders, and partner organisations.

the ucare programme

The international UCARE (UAVs: Concerted Actions for Required REgulations) Programme was initiated by Blyenburgh & Co for UVS International with the objective to create the basis of an organization to develop recommendations with the aim to facilitate the establishment of rules and regulations allowing the introduction of military and civil/commercial RPAS into civil managed airspace, regardless of borders. The basic strategy was to federate the international RPAS community behind a common goal, and, within a dedicated framework, create the required basis for issuing recommendations for a consensual policy and competence standards. There were two levels of participation: Participants & Contributors. Participants were representatives of corporate UVS International members, industry associations, and international organizations (Eurocontrol, FAA, JAA, NATO) that took on specific work tasks. The Participants were organized on a national or multi-national basis under a national coordinator. UCARE had Participants in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA.

Contributors were representatives of non-corporate entities and international organizations (civil & military government organizations, Eurocontrol, FAA, JAA, NATO, national civil aviation authorities, government R&D organizations, universities), which contributed significantly by supplying documents and studies.

The UCARE document library has been migrated to www.uvs-info.com, which now offers the world’s largest publicly available library of documents & opinion papers relating to airworthiness, certification and air traffic management issues pertaining to RPAS.

Joint Jaa/eurocontrol uav task Force

On April 3, 2002, after substantial lobbying by UVS International, the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) agreed to set up the Joint JAA/Eurocontrol UAV Task Force. The terms of reference of this Task Force, agreed on by the JAA Executive Board and Eurocontrol, were subsequently presented during the UCARE Symposium part of the UAV 2002 conference in Paris, France in June 2002. The first meeting of the UAV Task Force took place at JAA headquarters in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands on October 9 and 10, 2002.

In accordance with the Terms of Reference, the «concept» approach proposed by JAA, addressed the design, manufacture and maintenance of RPAS, the operations of RPAS (in particular the approval of operators), the Rules of the Air and various security-related issues. The concept was to be based on: • Identification of current & budding RPAS technologies and

their possible applications; • Creation of RPAS categories;

• Identification of lower mass limit(s) for regulations at European level;

• Review of existing documents (draft standards, research studies); • Consideration & evaluation of the use of a total system approach.

Particular attention was paid to operator qualification & approval, legal issues in relation to the ICAO Convention Art. 8, and terminology issues; the composition of the UAV Task Force was established in accordance with JAR-11 (JAA Regulatory & Related Procedures) and Eurocontrol’s requirements for stakeholder involvement. UVS International fulfilled the Task Force’s secretariat function.

The joint JAA/Eurocontrol UAV Task Force, was the first initiative of its kind in the world. The UAV Task Force’s final report, which has become an internationally recognised reference document, can be found on www.uvs-info.com.

easa’s a.npa

On October 18, 2005 UVS International, in anticipation of the Advance Notice of Prior Amendment (A.NPA) to be published by the European Aviaton Safety Agency (EASA), organized a presentation of the policy section of the A.NPA by Yves Morier (EASA) to European industry and interested government representatives at the Belgian Aeronautical Museum in Brussels, Belgium. This meeting had as principal purpose to permit EASA to explain the background and intention of the A.NPA and to allow European industry representatives to request clarification of certain sections of the A.NPA text, which had been made available to all attendees several days prior to the meeting. The draft A.NPA had undergone internal EASA consultation and had also been supplied to FAA for commentary.

EASA’s A.NPA was published on November 7, 2005. The complete text of the A.NPA is posted on www.uvs-info.com. The A.NPA can be seen as the follow-on to the widely applauded Joint JAA/Eurocontrol UAV Task Force’s Final Report that came out in June 2004. The A.NPA concerns aircraft with a MTOW of more than 150 kg and addresses, amongst others, the following issues: the procedure for RPAS certification, type certification, selection of the manned airworthiness code reference, the tailoring of the reference manned airworthiness code, UAS safety objectives & criteria, special conditions & interpretative material, continued airworthiness.

UVS International, with inputs from the Euro UAV ICB members, observers and corporate observers, supplied a federated European commentary to the A.NPA. UVS International also instigated a coordinated Canadian commentary to the A.NPA.

european uav industry consultation Body

In anticipation of the publication of the final report of the Joint JAA/Eurocontrol UAV Task Force, UVS International instigated the formation of this Industry Consultation Body (ICB) in April 2004. The vision of the Euro UAV ICB was to have operators of qualified civil, commercial and military UAV systems able fly their UAS routinely, safely & reliably in non-segregated European airspace.

The Euro UAV ICB gave itself the mission to be the European industrial focal point for all European authorities (civil & military, including NATO FINAS), and to take a pro-active European industry position concerning the development of recommendations relative to requirements and procedures that are necessary to make its vision reality. These recommendations were to encompass, but not be limited to, requirements & procedures in the following categories:• Airworthiness • System Certification • Safety & Security • Flying Operations


• Maintenance• Training• CNS/ATM • Aerodrome Interface• Legal ConsiderationsThe companies participating in the Euro UAV ICB agreed to federate their expertise & pool their resources in order to attain their objectives. The Euro UAV ICB was officially established in February 2005 and functioned as an independent working group entity with its own finances, and in accordance with the Statute of UVS International. The secretariat function was entrusted to UVS International.

In February 2007, the companies participating in the Euro UAV ICB concluded that, in order to take their initiative to the next stage, a more formal structure was required. Furthermore, they wanted to participate in a proposal to the European Defence Agency concerning a study contract. They decided to combine their forces with those of several other companies, which were not participating in the Euro UAV ICB (Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA), and to unite within a RPAS working group under the banner of ASD (European Aerospace & Defence Manufacturers Association), of which most were a member.

icao uas study group

On June 27, 2005 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issued a consultation with selected States and international organizations with regard to RPAS and concerning:• Present and foreseen international civil RPAS activities in

civil airspace;• Procedures to obviate danger to civil aircraft posed by RPAS operated as State aircraft; and

• States’ procedures for the issuance of special operating authorizations for international civil RPAS operations.

Furthermore, it was requested, in view of the limited resources at the disposal of ICAO, and in order to enable the Air Navigation 0ffice to determine an appropriate level of priority for RPAS-related issues compared to other tasks on its work programme, to supply as much detail, copies of or weblinks to national regulations or guidance material. UVS International was one of the international organisations consulted and formulated its response in coordination with the Euro ICB, and with contributions from Japan and New Zealand.

ICAO invited the representatives from the States who had replied, and UVS International, to participate in an exploratory meeting on RPAS. This meeting took place at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada in May 2006. At this meeting a small core group was formed to produce a guidance document for ICAO; UVS International was part of this core group.Subsequently, a second meeting took place at the FAA facilities in Palm Coast, Florida, USA, where this core group presented their guidance document to ICAO. The guidance document was subsequently presented to the ICAO Council and the green light was given in October 2007 by the ICAO Council to start up an ICAO UAS Study Group (UASSG).

The ICAO UASSG had its first meeting at ICAO headquarters in April 2008 and its members now consist of:• European Commission;• State representatives (national aviation authorities) from:

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Rep., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russian Fed., Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, UK, USA.

• 10 International organisations: AUVSI, CANSO, EASA, EUROCAE, Eurocontrol, IAOPA, ICCAIA, IFALPA, IFATCA, RTCA, and UVS International.

UVS International continues to participate in and contribute to the work being accomplished by the ICAO UAS Study Group.

usep - european inter-governmental initiative

In 2003 the Conseil Général de l’Armement (CGArm), a French Ministry of Defence think-tank reporting directly to the French Minister of Defence, mandated a study on the future of RPAS, for intelligence & combat missions (UCAV) within the European military context.

This study, designated «U(C)AV Systems» was finalised in 2004. The follow-on to the aforementioned study, a new study designated USEP (Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Security & Environmental-related Purposes), was instigated by CGArm in September 2005 and concerned the potential use of RPAS for security and environmental-related, as well as various other civil (commercial & non-commercial) purposes in Europe. The objective of the USEP initiative was, in co-ordination with the participating government authorities, and with non-competitive inputs from industry, to:• Create, or increase, the awareness with national govern-

mental entities (ministries & related agencies & departments) of the potential offered by RPAS within the framework of their respective tasks;

• Form three working groups and co-ordinate a European drive to jointly identify, document and evaluate:Operational Needs- description of needs (scenarios, geographical coverage,

timing, data precision);- global European market assessment (over the next 15 years);Technical Issues- synergy with defence RPAS and equipment solutions;- communication link bandwidth requirements and frequency

allocation;- R&T update, incl. deployment in non-segregated airspace;Organisation & Strategy- equipment or service acquisition;- relevant ongoing national activities and recommendations

for the future (co-operation within nations & within Europe).

ICAO UAS Study Group PatricipantsMontreal, Canada - 2009


• Identify and evaluate, the necessary funding required to make it possible to use State and non-state owned RPAS for purposes with societal benefits in European airspace.

UVS International was invited by CGArm to contribute to the USEP study and to help establish it as a transparent and federated pan-European initiative, and act as the channel of communication and its symposium organizer. A report on the conclusions of the USEP study was featured in the 2007 edition of the RPAS Yearbook, and can also be found on www.uvs-info.com.

european defence agency study contracts

In July 2006, UVS International received a contract from the European Defence Agency (EDA) to conduct a study relative to the possible future use of RPAS for security & environmental purposes in Europe. This study concerned the potential for non-military government applications of all classes of RPAS (by min. of interior, min. of the environment, min. of transport, min. of agriculture, etc) for roles such as homeland security matters (crowd surveillance/control, border patrol, illegal immigrant control, anti-terrorism, drug & weapons control, anti-crime, anti-piracy), surveillance of inland & coastal waters, sea lane surveillance, dike inspection, inspection of bridges & historical monuments, search & rescue, fishery control, peacekeeping operations, forest fire detection/surveillance, traffic management, shipping surveillance/monitoring, natural disaster area survey, (nuclear) crisis management, emergency communication networks, crop monitoring, meteorological applications, atmospheric measurements, glacier & ice cap monitoring, pollution monitoring, etc. This study was concluded in September 2006. In 2007, UVS International received a second study contract from EDA, but now relative to RPAS payloads; this study was successfully concluded that same year.

uvs international awards

The Catherine Fargeon Award

In 2003 UVS International instigated the Catherine Fargeon Award. This award, which carries the name of the first person who received it in 2003 (Dr Catherine Fargeon, French Ministry of Defence, Conseil Général de l’Armement), is presented to persons in recognition of their personal commitment & contribution to promoting the insertion of remotely piloted aircraft into non-segregated airspace and/or the general promotion of the future use of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

The 2014 recipients of this award are:• Koen de Vos, EC DG Mobility & Transport• Markus Farner, FOCA, Switzerland• Siim Kallas, Vice President of the European Commission• Taro Kuusiholma, Finnish Transport Safety Agency, Finland

The previous recipients of this award are:2005 • Gilbert Amato, EUROCAE, France • Cdt Régis Brigaud, DGA-DCE-CEV, France • Alex Hendriks, Eurocontrol, Belgium • Yves Morier, European Aviation Safety Agency • Nick Sabatini, FAA, USA • Giuliana Tamburro, ENAC, Italy2006 • Jeff Bauer, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, USA • Doug Davis, FAA UAV Program Office, USA • Cdt Christophe Gyr, DGA-DE-CEV, France • Serge Lebourg, Dassault Aviation, France • John Walker, JSWalkerGroup, USA • Klaus Wohlers, Rheinmetall DE, Germany2007 • LtCdr Geoff Bowker, CAA-DAP, UK • Roland Decuypere, RMA (rtd), Belgium • Vince Galotti, ICAO Headquarters • Holger Matthiesen, Eurocontrol, Belgium • Fred Pease, Department of Defense, PBFA, USA • WgCdr Mike Strong, Eurocontrol, Belgium2008 • Michael Allouche, IAI-Malat, Israel • Ian Glenn, ING Engineering, Canada • Gerhard Lippitsch, Austrocontrol, Austria • Gérard Mardiné, Sagem Défense &Sécurité, France • Karen Tarr, Transport Canada, Canada • Ron van de Leijgraaf, IVW (CAA), The Netherlands • Cliff Whittaker, CAA, UK2009 • Leslie Cary, ICAO Headquarters • Jim Christner, AAI Corp. (Textron), USA • Gilles Fartek, European Commission, DG TREN • Ken Geiselhart, Lockheed Martin, USA • Douglas Marshall, University of North Dakota, USA2010 • André Clot, EuroUSC, UK • Zdravko Kolev, Frontex (EC agency for border security) • MajGen Carlo Magrassi, European Defence Agency • Rune Storvold, Northern Research Institute, Norway • Martin Stoussavljewitsch, European Defence Agency • Luc Tytgat, European Commission, DG MOVE2011 • Jim Coyne, CASA, Australia • Dave Haddon, European Aviation Safety Agency • Xiaogong Lee, FAA - R&T, USA • Mike Lissone, Eurocontrol, Belgium • Claude Mas, DGAC (French CAA), France • Filippo Tomasello, European Aviation Safety Agency2012 • Matthew Baldwin, EC DG Mobility & Transport • Daniel Calleja Crespo, EC DG Enterprise & Industry • Marcelo Urena, ICAO Lima Regional Office, Peru • Bernhard von Bothmer, UAV DACH, Germany2013 • Erika Billen, CAA, Belgium • Carmine Cifaldi, ENAC, Italy • Jean-Pierre Lentz, EC DG Enterprise & Industry • Umberto Rossi, EC DG Mobility & Transport • Michael Standar, SESAR Joint Undertaking, BelgiumThe photos of all award winners can be found on following pages.

Koen de VosEC DG MOVE, EU (2014)

Markus FarnerFOCA, Switzerland (2014)

Siim KallasEC, EU (2014)

Taro KuusiholmaTraFi, Finland (2014)

UVS International Awards - 2014


Michael AlloucheIAI-Malat, Israel (2008)

Daniel Calleja Crespo EC DG ENTR, EU (2012)

Matthew BaldwinEC DG MOVE, EU (2012)

Vince GalottiICAO (2005)

Gilbert Amato EUROCAE, France (2005)

Doug Davis FAA, USA (2006)

Zdravko KolevFRONTEX, EU (2010)

Jeff BauerNASA-DFRC,USA (2006)

Geoff BowkerCAA-DAP, UK (2007)

Leslie CaryICAO (2009)

Jim ChristnerAAI Corp., USA (2009)

André ClotEuroUSC, UK (2010)

Roland Decuypere RMA, Belgium (2007)

Filippo De Florio ENAC (rtd), Italy (2008)

Dr Catherine Fargeon MoD-CGArm, France (2003)

Gilles Fartek EC DG TREN, EU (2009)

Ken GeiselhartLockheed Martin, USA (2009)

Ian GlennING, Canada (2008)

David HaddonEASA, EU (2011)

Alex HendriksEurocontrol, Belgium (2005)

UVS International Award Winners - 2003-2013

Cdt Christophe GyrDGA-CEV, France (2006)

Jim CoyneCASA, Australia (2011)

Cdt Régis BrigaudDGA-CEV, France (2005)

Carmine CifaldiENAC, Italy (2013)

Erika BillenCAA, Belgium (2013)



MajGen. Carlo MagrassiEDA, EU (2010)

Gérard MardinéSagem, France (2008)

Douglas MarshallUni. of N. Dakota, USA (2009)

Claude MasDGAC, France (2011)

Holger MatthiesenEurocontrol, Belgium (2007)

Yves MorierEASA, EU (2005)

Ken MunsonJane’s IG, UK (2007)

Fred PeaseDoD-PBFA, USA (2007)

Nick SabatiniFAA, USA (2005)

Rune StorvoldNORUT, Norway (2010)

Martin StoussavljewitschEDA, EU (2010)

WgCdr Mike StrongEurocontrol, Belgium (2007)

Giuliana TamburroENAC, Italy (2005)

Karen TarrTransport Canada (2008)

Filippo TomaselloEASA, EU (2011)

Luc TytgatEC DG MOVE, EU (2010)

Marcelo UrenaICAO, Peru (2012)

Ron van de LeijgraafCAA, The Netherlands (2008)

Mike LissoneEurocontrol, Belgium (2011)

Gerhard LippitschAustrocontrol, Austria (2008)

Serge LebourgDassault, France (2006)

Xiaogong LeeFAA-R&T, USA (2011)

Jean-Pierre LentzEC DG TREN, EU (2013)

Umberto RossiEC DG MOVE, EU (2013)

Michael StandarSESAR, EU (2013)


UVS International Award for Awareness Creation

In 2007, UVS International gave a special award to Ken Munson [Jane’s Information Group, UK (rtd)] in recognition for his long-standing personal commitment and contribution to promoting awareness of RPAS on an international level.

The RPAS Pioneer Award

In 2008, UVS International instituted the «UAS Pioneer Award» in order to honour & thank individuals for their exceptional & dedicated life time services to the international RPAS community. The first recipients of this award were:• Filippo De Florio, ENAC, Italy (rtd);• Malcolm Walker, CASA, Australia (rtd).This award is now called the De Florio/Walker Award.

De Florio/Walker Award

The first recipient of the De Florio/Walker award (2009) was:• Giuliana Tamburro, ENAC, Italy ( 2009 in the earthquake at l’Aquila, Italy)

Note: In the summer of 2013, the name of the airport of L’Aquila was changed to Guiliana Tamburro, in recognition of her contributions to ENAC’s work.

The Innovation Award

In 2011, UVS International instituted the «Innovation Award».This award is meant to recognise individuals having developed an RPAS for an innovative application with a clear societal benefit.

This award was first granted in 2011 to: • Robert Jonker, GreenX (now Clear Flight Solutions), The

Netherlands. Presented in recognition of the development of a flapping

wing RPA that very precisely imitates the flight profile of a raptor and is used environment-friendly bird control purposes.

In 2012, this award was granted to:• ProxDynamics, Norway. This relatively small and young company was presented

with this award for the development of the world’s first serial produced nano RPAS, which has since then entered into operational service with the British Army.

eurocae working group 73

UVS International strongly contributed, in close co-ordination with Eurocontrol and EASA on the European side, and the FAA and RTCA on the American side, to the start up of EUROCAE (European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment) Working

Group 73 (WG73) on unmanned aircraft systems in April 2006. UVS International continues to strongly support and promote this very important initiative.

interim working group on light uas

The Interim Working Group on Light UAS (IWGLUAS) was instigated by UVS International in September 2007 with the objective to produce a guidance document for EUROCAE WG73 on how the issue of Light RPAS (<150 kg) was to be dealt with by EUROCAE WG73’s Sub-Group 4.

The members of the IWGLUAS were: The CAAs of Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, UK; Eurocontrol; and industry representatives originating from Belgium, Czech Rep., France, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, UK.

The final report produced by the IWGLUAS, instigated & lead by UVS International, was supplied to EUROCAE WG73 during its plenary meeting at Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on 14 February 2008.

These recommendations stated that the required work packages defined by EUROCAE WG73’s Sub-Group on Light RPAS should be dealt with on a national basis in the national language by national associations or working groups. It was proposed that these national associations, or working groups, are then to produce national opinion papers in English, and submit them to EUROCAE WG73’s Sub-Group 4, where the required harmonization would take place.

The report recommended that a limited number of representatives of each of the ICC members supplying the inputs should be active members of Eurocae WG73 SG4 and meet to endeavour to harmonize the received inputs, and work towards a consensually agreed document.

This solution would make it possible for the small & medium-sized companies, which form the mainstay of the Light RPAS industry, to actively participate with their expertise, in their native language, and without having to spend time & money to attend all the working meetings in Brussels, Belgium or elsewhere.

Terms & Definitions + Abbreviations & Acronyms

Blyenburgh & Co has created for UVS International, and the international UAV community in general, a list of English language RPAS-related abbreviations & acronyms, their explanation and origin, as well as a list of RPAS-related terms and definitions (where possible mentioning the source document). The purpose of this task was to create an educational reference document for persons who are not native English speakers, and to contribute to the international harmonisation of RPAS terminology, which is imperative, if internationally acceptable standards, airworthiness


Bernhard von BothmerUAV DACH, Germany (2012)

Malcolm WalkerCASA, Australia (2008)

Cliff WhittakerCAA, UK (2008)

Klaus WohlersRheinmetall, Germany (2006)

John S. WalkerJSWalker Group, USA (2006)


rules and certification norms are to be defined.

The 7th edition of these documents is freely available at www.uvs-info.com. These are living documents and will continue to grow. The international RPAS community is encouraged to supply additions for both of these documents by email to UVS International.

rpas categorisation

UVS International has drawn up a categorization of RPAS, which permits to slot in all existing systems, as well as RPAS that are currently under development. It should be noted that this categorisation has not been designed for certification purposes. Its main purpose is to come up with a universal system of cataloguing RPAS, combining various parameters, for reference purposes.

ACTIVITIES IN 2008

india - agreement with indian ministry of defence

In May 2008, UVS International was invited by the Indian Ministry of Defence, Defence Research & Development Organization, Aeronautical Development Establishment, to come to India to discuss the co-organization of the first national Indian inmanned systems conference. This conference, designated ICAUV 2009, was to take place in Bangalore, India in April 2009.

France - uas 2008 - 10th edition

The 10th edition of UVS International’s annual conference, UAS 2008 (70 speakers), took place at the Docks Event Centre in Paris, France on 10-12 June 2008.

A photographic review of this event, as well as the presentations given, are posted on www.uvs-info.com

arctic observation with uas

In June 2008, discussions started with the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Agency, USA relative to global climate change and the potential concerted use of Light RPAS by the Arctic Council countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Fed., Sweden, USA) for Arctic monitoring purposes. From these discussions emerged a progressive UVS International advocacy and awareness-increasing strategy, which included the association’s implication in:• UVS-Tech 2009 in Moscow, Russian Federation;• 4th Trans-Atlantic UAS Roundtable in Washington, DC, USA;• A special session on this topic at the UAS 2009 conference in

Paris, France. For various reasons beyond UVS International’s control, this strategy was not implemented.

France - eurosatory 2008

In 2008, UVS International was, for the second time in a row, partnered with COGES, the organizers of Eurosatory, the world’s largest army equipment & aviation exhibition, which took place in Paris, France on 16-20 June 2008.

The UVS Forum, organized by UVS International at this world class event, featured exhibition booths, a briefing section and a meeting area. The UVS Forum focused attention on micro, mini & tactical RPAS, as well as UGV systems. The UVS Forum also featured the indoor demonstrations of UGV systems (<150kg) on a dedicated indoor area equipped with an obstacle course, which had been designed and organized by the French Ministry of Defence (DGA). The UGV demonstrations were one of Eurosatory’s largest crowd gatherers (250-430 persons per demonstration).

china - 1st rpas conference

With the intent of contributing to maintaining safety in Chinese airspace, and within the framework of its Global Access Initiative and international harmonisation, UVS International accepted an invitation from International Aviation Group, China to co-organise and chair UAS China 2008, the 1st national Chinese RPAS conference.

As contribution to the organization of this event, UVS International endeavoured to make it possible for the Chinese regulatory authorities and RPAS community to be made aware of the ongoing international regulatory work pertaining to RPAS. UVS International’s goal was to contribute to motivating the CAA of China to recognise that they have to start preparing for admitting RPAS into Chinese non-segregated airspace.

The 2-day UAS China 2008 conference took place in Beijing, China in September 2008 and drew 423 delegates. Half of the speakers (regulatory authorities, researchers & industry) were brought on board by UVS International. UVS International gave 3 presentations, including one on behalf of EUROCAE.

china - strategic partnership agreement

During the UAS China 2008 conference in September 2008, UVS International signed a strategic partnership agreement with International Aviation Group, China. Within the framework of this agreement the parties will jointly strive to:• Implicate the Chinese authorities in the regulatory initiatives

being undertaken by the global RPAS community;• Improve awareness within the Chinese RPAS community

(government & industry) concerning the ongoing international activities relative to RPAS-related standards, rules & regulations;

• Promote active Chinese industry implication in these activities;• Work towards goals of common interest relative to unmanned

systems.

As a result of the message brought over by UVS International during this event, the Chinese civil aviation authority joined the ICAO UAS Study Group.

international test range directory

In October 2008, UVS International instigated the International Test Range Directory initiative. This initiative has as objective to create a new open and free access web site, which will reference the world’s flight test and evaluation ranges. In cooperation with several ranges, a very comprehensive test range description and categorization form has been produced and is posted on www.testranges.org.This web site has as purpose to not only reference test ranges, but also to make it possible to compare their facilities and the services they offer.

Peter van Blyenburgh &Nancy Liu exchange signed MoUs


canada - regulatory workshop at canadian conference

UVS International organized & chaired a regulatory workshop at the UVS Canada 2008 conference in Ottawa, Canada on 4-7 November 2008.

award received from uvs canada

During its 2008 conference, UVS Canada presented UVS International with its 2008 Organizational Award, in recognition of its RPAS-related organisational activities.

study contract received from French ministry of interior

On November 6, 2008 the French Ministry of Interior, Direction Générale de la Police Nationale, Services des Technologies de la Sécurité Intérieur, notified (subsequent to a public tender) the award of a study contract to UVS International. This study concerned the analysis of the French legal framework relative to the use of Light RPAS (<150 kg) by the French Ministry of Interior forces and included the following:• A detailed analysis of the existing legal framework and the

proposal of a solution that will permit the operation use of Light UAS by the French Ministry of Interior;

• Technical guidelines on how to deploy a Light RPAS and be in conformity with the current French regulations;

• A proposal concerning the adaptation of the current French regulations in the medium term in order to permit generalization of the operational use of Light RPAS by the French Ministry of Interior.

UVS International, the prime contractor, conducted this study in cooperation with UAS Consulting & Services, France, its sub-contractor for this contract, and is proud to have been selected by the French Ministry of Interior.

usa - trans-atlantic uas roundtable

Within the framework of its Global Access Initiative, UVS International organized, together with The European Institute, and participated in the 3rd Trans-Atlantic UAS Roundtable in Washington, DC, USA on 10 November 2008. The theme of this event was «Security-related RPAS Applications». The purpose of this on-invitation-only event was to improve high level trans-Atlantic understanding and forge trans-Atlantic links.

2008 uvs news Flash

During 2008, and within the context of the Global Access Initiative, 19 editions of the UVS News Flash & 5 special editions were published (in total 944 pages) and sent out by email. All are posted on www.uvs-international.org & www.uvs-info.com

ACTIVITIES IN 2009

russia - uvs-tech 2009 conference & exhibition

In September 2008, UVS International was invited by the Ministry of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation, through Expo-Ecos Ltd, to contribute to the organization of the UVS-Tech 2009 conference by organising presentations concerning international UAS-related regulatory work and research applications. This successful national event took place in Moscow on 27-29 January 2009. A photographic report & the presentations given English can be found on

www.uvs-info.com

spain - isr 2009 conference

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International accepted an invitation to give a key note address at ISR 2009, the 40th International Symposium on Robotics. This event was organised by AER-ATP, Spain and took place in Barcelona, Spain on 10-13 March 2009.

France - export regulations symposium

On 17 March 2009, UVS France organized, in co-operation with UVS International, and with the participation of all the relevant competent French governmental authorities, a symposium dealing with French export regulations pertaining to unmanned systems in Paris, France.

In the morning session the French authorities presented and explained the French export regulations relative to unmanned systems (air, ground, naval) at systems & sub-systems & critical component level, as well as services for & services with remotely piloted systems.

The afternoon session was dedicated to generic case studies with which the participants could identify. The objective of this event was to inform small & medium-sized French enterprises on the existing export regulations & the upcoming changes, and increase their awareness of the legal risks of not complying with these regulations. The presentations given are posted (in French) on www.uvs-info.com

switzerland - 1st swiss uas day

On 27 March 2009, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne organized the 1st Swiss RPAS Day. This event brought together the majority of the Swiss companies involved with RPAS at system and sub-system level. Within the framework of the Global Access

UVS-TECH 2009 Opening - Moscow, Russian Federation

ICAUV 2009, Bangalore, India


Initiative, UVS International participated in this symposium.

india - 1st national uas conference & exhibition

In May 2008, UVS International was invited by the Indian Ministry of Defence, Defence Research & Development Organisation, Aeronautical Development Establishment, to co-organize the 1st national Indian RPAS conference. The ICAUV 2009 conference & exhibition took place at the Eagleton Golf Resort in Bangalore, India on 3 & 4 April 2009.

This event celebrated the Aeronautical Defence Establishment’s 50th anniversary and was organized by the Indian Ministry of Defence, Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), Aeronautical Defence Establishment (ADE), in partnership with UVS International.

A photographic report & some of the presentations given can be found on www.uvs-info.com

abu dhabi - middle east rpas summit

UVS International supported & chaired the 1st UAS Summit Middle East 2009, which took place at the Meridien Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on 19-20 April 2009. The presentations given are posted on www.uvs-info.com

rpas photo competition

The winners of the 2009 edition of the RPAS photo competition organised by UVS International were published in the 2009 edition of the RPAS Yearbook, posted on www.uvs-international.org & www.uvs-info.com, and were exhibited at the UAS 2009 conference.


The 11th edition of UVS International’s annual RPAS conference & exhibition took place in Paris, France on 9-12 June 2009. With 105 presentations by speakers from 18 countries, UAS 2009 was the world’s largest UAS conference that year. UAS 2009 featured a special 1-day plenary session on regulatory matters, a special half day session on Arctic observation using RPAS, and a 1-day workshop on Light RPAS (<150 kg).

survey on light rpas non-military applications

In June 2009 UVS International was requested by the European Commission (EC), Directorate General Transport & Energy to conduct a world-wide survey on the current non-military applications of Light RPAS (<150 kg). The results of the survey were officially presented to the EC at the Hearing on Light RPAS that was organized by the EC in Brussels, Belgium on 8 October 2009. The results of this survey are posted on www.uvs-info.com

european commission hearing on light rpas

The EC’s first-ever hearing on Light RPAS took place in the offices of Directorate General Transport & Energy in Brussels, Belgium on 8 October 2009. The purpose of this hearing, which

was attended by 49 representatives of the European Light RPAS community, was to make the EC aware of the size and broad span of the European Light RPAS community and the currently ongoing Light UAS Operations. In the morning, 12 testimonials were given by current Light RPAS operators (non-military - governmental, commercial, research). During the afternoon the way forward was discussed, and questions from the floor were replied by the EC representatives.

The EC’s report of this event, including its conclusions and recommendations, was published in the 2010 edition of the RPAS Yearbook, which is posted on www.uvs-info.com.

icao’s global atm Forum on civil/military co-operation

UVS International was invited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to participate and support the first Global Air Traffic Management Forum on Civil/Military Cooperation, which took place at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada

on 19-21 October 2009. This was the first time in ICAO history that ICAO hosted a civil/military plenary meeting, and it was the first time that RPAS were an official agenda item at an ICAO plenary meeting. UVS International is proud to have been part of the organising team and to have been invited to be the moderator of the session on RPAS at this historic event.

austria - uas: towards civil applications

On 10 November 2009, the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology organized this first Austrian national UAS conference at the Joanneum University in Graz, Austria. This event, which was supported by UVS International, brought the Austrian RPAS community together for the first time and discussed the potential opportunities and best way forward. UVS International had been invited to give a keynote address on international RPAS activities and the Global Access Initiative.

France - uvs international’s presence at milipol

UVS International had the privilege of sharing a stand with COGES, the Eurosatory organisers at the 25th Milipol exhibition, one of the world’s largest homeland security exhibitions, which took place in Paris, France on 17-20 November 2009.

norway - uas nordic 2009 conference

This successful national conference was organized by Flight Operational Forum and UAS Norway, with the support of UVS International, and took place at the Quality Hotel Gardermoen in Oslo, Norway on 8 November 2009. It brought the entire Norwegian RPAS community (governmental & non-governmental) together and focused on current & future RPAS activities. UVS International had been invited to give a keynote address on international RPAS activities and the Global Access Initiative.

2009 uvs news Flash

Within the context of the Global Access Initiative, 16 editions

ICAO UAS Study Group Participants 2010, Johannesburg, South Africa


of the UVS News Flash and 4 special editions (in total 753 pages) were published and sent out by email in 2009. All are posted on www.uvs-international.org & www.uvs-info.com

ACTIVITIES IN 2010

icao uas study group meets in south africa

In February 2010, the ICAO UAS Study Group held, on invitation of the South African CAA, a working meeting in Johannesburg at the facilities of CSIR (Council for Scientific & Industrial Research). This meeting demonstrated the importance ICAO places on the African continent and made it possible to have significant implication of the South African CAA in the study group’s work. UVS International participated in this working meeting.

micro companies - new membership category

In March 2010, the UVS International Board of Directors unanimously agreed to create a new membership category specifically for micro companies (< 3 employees & annual turnover < Euro 100.000). Micro companies are very often university spin-off start-up companies with substantial technical expertise.

This decision was taken in light of the European Commission’s «Vision 2020 for the European Research Area» (see RPAS Info Section on www.uvs-info.com). The intent is to give these micro companies a means of expressing themselves, making themselves known and communicating with the larger companies in the field of RPS technology.

singapore - defence summit asia 2010

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International was partnered with K2B International, Singapore, which organized, with the support & participation of UVS International, the first international conference on military robotics in Singapore on 2-4 March 2010.

spain - unveX’10 conference

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International was partnered with IDS, Spain, which organized, with the support & participation of the Spanish Ministry of Defence, Asociacion Espanola de Empresas Tecnologicas de Defense, Aeronautica y Espacio, the second national Spanish RPAS conference & exhibition in Madrid on 2-4 March 2010.

czech rep. - avBs’ rpas conference

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International was partnered with AVBS, the Czech remotely piloted systems manufacturers association, to organize the first national Czech RPAS conference in Prague on 17 & 18 March 2010.

russian Federation uvs-tech 2010

UVS International had again partnered with Expo-Ecos Ltd, to co-organize the UVS-Tech 2010 conference and exhibition, which took place in Moscow, Russian Fed. on 30 June-4 July 2010. A presentation on the global RPAS situation was given by Alexander Koldaev (member of the Board of Directors) on

behalf of UVS International.

France - uvs Forum at eurosatory 2010

Subsequent to their successful partnerships in 2006 & 2008, UVS International once again entered into a partnership with COGES, the organisers of Eurosatory, the world’s prime land forces & army aviation & homeland security equipment exhibition, which took place at the Paris-Nord Villepinte exhibition center (just north of Paris, France) once every two years. The Eurosatory Exhibition took place on 14-18 June 2010. Within the framework of this partnership agreement UVS International organised the UVS Forum, which was dedicated to RPAS and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) systems, as well as sensors & other related sub-systems applicable to either type of system. The UVS Forum, the largest technology cluster (1700 m²) at the Eurosatory exhibition.


The winners of the 2010 edition of the RPAS photo competition organised by UVS International were published in the 2010 edition of the RPAS Yearbook, posted on www.uvs-international.org & www.uvs-info.com, and exhibited at the UAS 2010 conference.


UAS 2010, that year’s edition of UVS International’s annual international conference on RPAS and related sub-systems took place on the UVS Forum at Eurosatory 2010. The conference had two tracks, which ran in parallel; in total 73 presentations were given by speakers from 6 international organizations, 3 international associations, and 20 countries.

The event was concluded by two inter-active workshops [RPAS for Atmospheric (volcanic ash) Sensing & RPAS Pilot Qualification, Training & Certification], which resulted in two position papers with recommendations that were remitted to

2010 Catherine Fargeon Awards WinnersMajGen Carlo Magrassi & Martin Stoussavljewitsch (European Defence Agency)

with UVS International Board Members Ian Glenn, Alexander Koldaev, Gérard Mardiné, Peter van Blyenburgh, Doug Davis, Nick Miller, John Walker, Tore Kallevig

Luc Tytgat, Rune Storvold & Erik Berglund on behalf of Zdravko Kolev

2010 Catherine Fargeon Award Winners


the European Commission for their consideration.

european commission’s rpas conference

On 1 July 2010, the European Commission, Directorate General (DG) Mobility & Transport organised, in co-operation with the European Defence Agency, and in co-ordination with DG Enterprise and DG Research, a high level RPAS conference. This event had as purpose to create European political awareness of the technologies relative to unmanned systems and their importance for the future. The conference took place in Brussels, Belgium (see: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air/uas_en.htm). UVS International is proud to have been invited by the EC to be a member of the conference organising committee and to contribute to the organization of this historic event. The 2010 edition of the RPAS Yearbook, which included the European Commission’s Report on the Hearing on Light RPAS, was distributed to all attendees at this conference.

France - uav show europe

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International agreed to give a keynote address at this national French RPAS conference on Micro & Mini RPAS. This event, with associated flight demonstrations, was organised by Bordeaux Technowest at Bordeaux-Mérignac Aéroparc on 15 & 16 September 2010, with the support of regional authorities.

uvs international meets with ec dg move

On 12 October 2011, 5 representatives of the UVS International Board of Directors met with Daniel Calleja and Peter Sorensen, EC DG Mobility & Transport (MOVE), at their offices in Brussels. The purpose of this meeting was to officially introduce UVS International and its collective expertise, and to propose its services to DG MOVE.

During this meeting, UVS International was requested to produce an advisory document, which would express an opinion relative to the High Level Group on RPAS, the creation of which was announced at the EC’s High Level Conference on RPAS on 1 July 2010. The requested advisory document was to cover a proposed structure, an overall strategic approach, a mission statement, a proposed work methodology, as well as the topics to be covered, a report framework, and the required time-line. This confidential document was produced & remitted to DG MOVE in February 2011.

Brazil - national rpas conference

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International agreed to participate in the national Brazilian RPAS conference that was organised by DCA-BR. UVS International gave a keynote address on global RPAS activities, with a particular emphasis on rules and regulations. This event took place in Sao Jose dos Campos on 27-29 October 2010.

canada - national uas conference

Within the framework of the Global Access Initiative, UVS International again participated in the regulatory session at this national event, which was organised by the Unmanned Systems Canada association in Montréal, Canada on 2-5

November 2010.

norway - national rpas conference

UVS International again participated in this growing national event, which has strong Scandinavian links and was organised by UAS Norway in Oslo, Norway on 24 November 2010.

Joint eurocae wg73/rtca sc203 leadership meeting

Early December 2010, a Joint EUROCAE WG73/RTCA SC203 Leadership meeting took place, on invitation of RTCA SC203, at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, MA, USA.

This working meeting made it possible to find find substantial areas of common ground, and to prepare the framework for an increased cooperative effort between the two organisations with clearly defined deliverables. UVS International participated in this meeting in its capacity of standing advisor to EUROCAE WG73.

usa - uas taac 2010

UVS International participated in this national annual event, which brings together the principal players in the American RPAS community and was organised by New Mexico State University, Physics & Science Lab in Alburquerque, NM, USA on 7-9 December 2010.

europe - petition letter to the european commission

In the beginning of August 2010, UVS International launched a petition letter initiative. This initiative was launched in reference to the statements made by European Commission (EC) representatives at the EC’s conference on RPAS in Brussels, Belgium on 1 July 2010 and has as purpose to give the Light RPAS community [manufacturers & non-military users (governmental & commercial & research), as well as flight service providers] a way of expressing their views and expectations. This initiative was not only open to UVS International members, but also to non-members.

In December 2010, UVS International remitted the petition letter addressed the EC [Siim Kallas (Vice-President of the EC), Antonio Tajani (Vice-President of the EC), Daniel Calleja (DG MOVE), and Luc Tytgat (DG MOVE)] in December 2010. This petition was signed by 112 organizations (5 governmental; 10 industry; 6 institutions; 2 international associations; 5 national associations; 67 SMEs; 17 academic institutions) in 25 countries (20 European: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom; 5 Non-European: Brazil, Canada, Israel, Russian Fed., USA), and 1 multi-national governmental working group; the aforementioned organisations represented a total of 2046 companies.

Joint EUROCAE WG73/RTCA SC203 Leadership Meeting - Cambridge, MA, USA - December 2010


France - dgac advisory committee

In December 2010, UVS International received an invitation from the DGAC (French civil aviation authority) to become a member of a committee that was being constituted to supply advise to the DGAC relative to their proposed new rulemaking on Small UAS (<25 kg). UVS International is proud to have been requested by the DGAC to contribute to this effort.

ACTIVITIES IN 2011

europe - uvs international meets with sJu

On 1 February 2011, 5 European members of UVS International’s Board of Directors had a meeting with Patrick Ky and Denis Koehle at the offices of SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU). The purpose of this meeting was to officially introduce UVS International to SJU and to propose making the combined experience of the association’s members available to SJU, if and when SJU would require such expertise.

new rpas Blog

In February 2011, Blyenburgh & Co, in partnership with the English company AMC, started up UAS Vision (www.uasvision.com). This is an independent global forum for UVS International members and the international RPAS community. It is dedicated to supplying, on a daily basis, breaking news and pertinent information relative to RPAS. This blog offers a free daily news alert, for which anyone can register on the blog.

russian Federation - uvs-tech 2011

For the third consecutive year, UVS International was partnered with Expo-Ecos to co-organize, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, an international 3-day RPAS conference in Moscow, Russian

Federation (1-3 March 2011). The presentations given at UVS-TECH 2011 are posted on www.uvs-info.com

icao civil/military cooperation

At its conclusion, the Global Air Traffic Management Forum on Civil/Military Cooperation (Oct. ’09) recommended conducting a series of regional events to carry over the message of this Forum. This outcome was reinforced by the 37th ICAO Assembly (October 2010), which formulated Resolution A37-15, Appendix O: Coordination and cooperation of civil and military air traffic, which asked ICAO to serve as an international forum to play a role in facilitating improved civil/military cooperation and to provide the necessary follow-up activities, that build on the success of the Global Forum with the support of civil/military partners.

In March 2011, ICAO notified UVS International that it would like to continue working with the organization in the partnership established for the organisation of the Global Forum, which included ATCA, CANSO, Eurocontrol, IATA, FAA, Department of Defense (USA), Ministry of Transport (Germany), NATO, and UVS International, for the organisation/conduct of this regional campaign of five seminars/workshops on civil/military cooperation in all ICAO regions from 2011 to 2013.

In the planning and organisation of these five seminars/workshops, ICAO has acquired the support of a Civil/Military Informal Working Group (Civ/Mil IWG), which is composed of

EC UAS Panel in Session

EC UAS Panel - Second Workshop Attendees


civil/military experts from most of the partner organisations that assisted ICAO since the inception of the Global Forum and the development of the Civil/Military Cooperation in Air Traffic Management (Cir 330). The support of UVS International was solicited by ICAO to plan for the regional campaign of five seminars/workshops on civil/military cooperation. It should be noted that RPAS are an integral part of ICAO’s civil/military cooperation initiative.

icao uas study group meets in russia

In May 2011, the ICAO UAS Study Group held, on invitation of GosNIIAS, a working meeting in St. Petersburg at the offices of Transas, a Russian RPAS manufacturer.

icao uas study group secretariat - administrative support

In 2011, on request of the ICAO UAS Study Group secretariat, UVS International played an instrumental role in finding industrial support for the secretariat to be able to tackle its increased workload more efficiently.

new web sites announced

On 1 April 2011, after considerable work and overcoming multiple hurdles, totally new editions of www.uvs-international.org and www .uvs-info.com went on-line.

The new web sites were much more user-friendly and their RPAS & UGV related libraries (brochures, product data sheets, regulatory documents, white papers, studies, photos (products & events) had been greatly increased in volume & all previous editions of the RPAS Yearbook had been made available online.

europe - european commission’s uas panel initiative

In follow-up to the high level RPAS conference that it organised on 1 July 2010, the European Commission, Directorate General

Enterprise & Industry (DG ENTR) and Directorate General Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE), launched, in lieu of the earlier announced High Level Group on RPAS, an initiative, which was to provide it with the necessary expertise and input to develop a strategy for the future of RPAS in the European Union, and to identify the most pressing issues which today hinder the emergence of a RPAS market.

In order to collect the necessary information and input, the European Commission announced the setting up a process involving relevant experts from aviation rulemaking bodies and industry, and inviting them to share their knowledge on the subject of UAS insertion into civil managed airspace.

A first preparatory meeting took place at DG Enterprise & Industry in Brussels, Belgium on 27 May 2010. At this meeting Daniel Calleja (DG ENTR) and Matthew Baldwin (DG MOVE) explained the objectives, described the proposed process and the expected contributions from the invited stakeholders. At this meeting it was announced that the invited stakeholders would form the EC UAS Panel, which would be jointly chaired by Daniel Calleja and Matthew Baldwin.

The official announcement of the creation of the European Commission’s UAS Panel was made by the European Commission at the Paris Air Show.

The European UAS Panel, consisted of nominally designated high level representatives of the European Aviation Safety Agency, Eurocontrol, European Civil Aviation Conference, SESAR Joint Undertaking, European Defence Agency, ASD and UVS International. The panel organised a series of five workshops, which were co-chaired by DG ENTR and DG MOVE, and also involved other European Commission services (DG HOME, DG RTD, DG INFSO). The five workshops (each dedicated to a spefic topic) were concluded in February 2012.UVS International organised the first of the 5 workshops (RPAS-related industry base and market issues), and subsequently

UAS Latin America 2011 Attendees - San José dos Campos, Brazil

ICAO’s Civil/Military Cooperation Seminar Attendees - Lima, Peru


actively participated in all four following workshops.


The winners of the 2011 RPAS photo competition organised by UVS International were published in that year’s edition of the RPAS Yearbook, and are posted on www.uvs-info.com.

France - uas 2011- 13th edition

UVS International held the 13th edition of its annual international RPAS conference and exhibition in Paris, France on 14-16 June 2011 (the week preceding the Paris Air Show). All presentations given at this event are available on www.uvs-info.com

peru - icao’s 1st civil/military cooperation seminar

In August 2011, UVS International participated, within the framework of its Global Access Initiative, in ICAO’s first regional civil/military cooperation seminar, which took place in Lima, Peru. The objective of UVS International’s participation was to highlight ICAO’s ongoing RPAS-related standards activities, as well as illustrate current RPAS operations worldwide.

china - avic cup

UVS International was invited to be the overseas partner of the AVIC Cup - International UAV Innovation Grand Prix. The AVIC Cup (Sept 23 - 25, 2011) was being organized by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the Chinese Society of Aeronautics & Astronautics (CSAA) at the China Aviation Museum in Beijing, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of China’s aviation industry. AVIC Cup integrated the Grand Prix with a RPAS flying demonstration & exhibition.

Brazil - 1st latin american rpas conference

UVS International was partnered with DCA-BR to co-organize, with the support of Brazilian governmental authorities, an international 3-day UAS conference in Sao José dos Campos, Brazil (25-27 October 2011).

This conference was expressly organised for the budding South American RPAS market and had as purpose to promote international cooperation in the fields of regulatory matters and RPAS development & production. All information pertaining to this event is available on www.uvs-info.com & www.dca.br.org.br

8th icao uas study group

The eighth meeting of the ICAO UAS Study Group to place in

Montreal, QC, Canada from 31 October to 4 November 2011. Once again UVS International participated.

rpas replaces uas

During the second half of 2011, UVS International choose to adopt the ICAO-recommended term of remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) (instead of UAS) in all its communications, including conference designations. The annual yearbook was renamed to «RPAS: The Global Perspective». Most national aviation authorities have now also adopted the term RPAS.

ACTIVITIES IN 2012

india - icauv 2012 - 2nd edition

In February 2011, UVS International was invited by the Indian Ministry of Defence, Defence Research & Development Organization, Aeronautical Development Establishment, to co-organize and promote the 2nd national Indian RPAS conference. The ICAUV 2012 conference & exhibition was once again a residential conference (all speakers & delegates were housed at the conference venue) and again took place at the Eagleton Golf Resort in Bangalore, India on 24 & 25 February 2012.

UVS International is proud to have been selected by the Indian Ministry of Defence for the second time in a row to partner with it for the organisation of this important national event.The presentations that have been allowed to be published are posted on www.uvs-info.com.

thailand - icao’s 2nd civil/military cooperation seminar

In early March 2012, UVS International participated, within the framework of its Global Access Initiative, in ICAO’s second

ICAUV 2012 Opening - Bangalore, India

ICAO’s Civil Military Cooperation Seminar Attendees - Bangkok, Thailand


The objective of the European RPAS Steering Group was to draw up, before the end of 2012, a roadmap defining how the incremental integration of RPAS into European airspace should be achieved by 2016. The entities participating in the European Commission’s UAS Panel were all invited to become part of the European RPAS Steering Group.

UVS International was invited to participate as an RPAS industry stakeholder, specifically representing small & medium-sized enterprises (manufacturing & services). It participated in all 3 sub-groups of the Steering Group (Regulatory Matters, R&D Matters, Complementary Measures) and contributed to the three roadmaps drawn up by these Sub-Groups, which laid the basis for the European RPAS Roadmap, which was completed on time.

peru - icao latin american uas seminar

On 18-20 April 2012 UVS International participated in ICAO’s first regional RPAS seminar, which took place at the ICAO regional office in Lima, Peru. This event featured 28 speakers from ICAO, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and brought together national aviation authorities from many countries in the region, as well as a good number of RPAS manufacturers and RPAS operators. This event had been co-organised by UVS International and had as objective to bring the Latin American national aviation authorities and industry together to inform them on ICAO’s ongoing work relative to RPAS, permit Latin American authorities to highlight currently ongoing RPAS operations in their countries, and promote closer cooperation and coordination between Latin American & Carribean region authorities and organisations like JARUS, Eurocontrol, EUROCAE, and RTCA relative to standards.

canada - 9th icao uas study group meeting

The ninth meeting of the ICAO UAS Study Group to place in Montreal, QC, Canada from 23 to 27 April 2012. It was the first time that authorities from Japan participated in the study group.In order to be better positioned to cope with the large amount of work that the group has to accomplish within a relatively short period of time, Filippo Tomasello (European Aviation Safety Agency) and Jim Coyne (Civil Aviation Safety Agency, Australia) were nominated as co-chairs of the group at this meeting.

eurocae working group 93

The kick-off meeting of the EUROCAE Working Group 93 on Light RPAS took place at Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on 23 & 24 May 2012. UVS International played a pivotal role in the build-up and organisation of WG93. The International Coordiniation Council members were all invited to

regional civil/military cooperation seminar, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand. The objective of UVS International’s participation was to highlight ICAO’s ongoing RPAS-related standards activities, as well as illustrate current RPAS operations worldwide.

europe - european rpas steering group

The final report of the European UAS Panel concluded that RPAS presented substantial societal benefits and offered substantial job creation potential, and that consequently it was advisable to take this initiative to the following step, and called for the creation of the European RPAS Steering Group. It was also decided to adopt the ICAO-recommended terminology (RPAS instead of UAS or UAV).

9th ICAO UAS Study Group Meeting Attendees

ICAO’s 1st Regional UAS Seminar Attendees - Lima, Peru


contribute to this very important effort.

France - rpas 2012 - 14th edition

The association’s 14th annual RPAS conference and exhibition took place at the Equinoxe Event Centre in Paris, France on 5 & 6 & 7 June 2012 and brought together 46 speakers from 19 countries and 9 European and international organizations.

France - eurosatory 2012

UVS International, sponsored by COGES, the organizers of Eurosatory, the world’s largest army equipment, army aviation and homeland security exhibition, which took place in Paris, France on 11-15 June 2012, had a stand at Eurosatory 2012.

Brazil - 10th icao uas study group meeting

The tenth meeting of the ICAO UAS Study Group took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 24-28 September 2012 and was hosted by ANAC (Brazilian civil aviation authority) and DECEA (Brazilian military aviation authority). See photo on following page. UVS International participated in the meeting and presented a study note on RPAS-related terms and definitions, RPAS aerial work categorization, and a compilation of all ICAO-approved aviation-related terms & definitions (originating from the Chicago Convention annexes). These documents are posted on www.uvs-info.com


For the forth consecutive year, UVS International partnered with Expo-Ecos to co-organize, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, an international 3-day RPAS conference; UVS-Tech 2012 took

place in Moscow, Russian Fed. on 23-26 October 2012. This event took place within the framework of the 16th «Interpolitekh 2012» exhibition, which is organised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, and the Federal Service on Military and Technical Cooperation of the Russian Federation.

easa - npa 2012-10

In August 2012, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published its Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2012-10 for a Commission Regulation laying down the common rules of the air and operational provisions regarding services and procedures in air navigation and amending regulations, relative to the transposition of Amendment 43 to Annex 2 to the Chicago Convention on remotely piloted aircraft systems into common rules of the air.

UVS International drew up detailed comments to this proposal and officially submitted them to EASA for consideration. The comments submitted by UVS International were submitted with the endorsement of the following national associations: • ASSORPAS, Italy; • BeUAS, Belgium; • DARPAS, The Netherlands; • UAS Norway, Norway; • UAV-DACH, Germany; • UAS France, France;In total more than 450 companies and organisations supported UVS International’s position.

norway - unc 2012

On 13 November 2012, UVS International gave the keynote presentation at UNC 2012, the annual national Norwegian RPAS conference organised by UAS Norway.

Belgium - rpas civops 2012

The first edition of the RPAS CivOps conference, a new annual

10th ICAO UAS Study Group Meeting Attendees

Attendees at JARUS’ First Workshop


conference organised under the auspices of UVS International, and which is totally dedicated to non-military RPAS operators and operations, took place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 4 & 5 December 2012.

The organisation of this conference was coordinated with the European Commission (DG Enterprise & Industry + DG Mobility & Transport), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Eurocontrol, ECAC, JARUS, SESAR Joint Undertaking, European Defence Agency, and Eurocae WG93. Photos of this event can be found on www.uvs-info.com and on www.rpas-civilops.org

During this event, UVS International organised a series of private one-to-one meetings for selected RPAS operators with the European Commission, EASA and JARUS. The purpose of these meetings was to give the authorities to obtain first-hand feedback from RPAS operators on currently ongoing RPAS operations, and to hear from them what would be required to develop the RPAS aerial work market in Europe.

Jarus web site

In October 2012, UVS International proposed, within the framework of its Global Access Initiative, to establish and maintain a web site specifically for the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS).

This proposal was made because it was politically not possible for any of the JARUS members (all national aviation authorities) to host such a web site. The UVS International proposal was accepted and the JARUS web site (www.jarus-rpas.org) is now online. This web site makes it possible for JARUS to communicate on its activities to the international RPAS community. The content of this web site is supplied by JARUS.

Belgium - 1st Jarus workshop

The first workshop organised by the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) took place at Eurocontrol in Brussels, Belgium on 6 December 2012.

The purpose of this workshop was to make it possible for JARUS to present the JARUS-proposed SC-LURS regulation (for light unmanned rotorcraft systems) to the RPAS community, and inform the RPAS community on SC-LURS comment process. UVS International participated in this workshop.

ACTIVITIES IN 2013

rpas operators

UVS International has continued its endeavours to federate current and potential RPAS operators (companies & organisations conducting or planning to conduct aerial operations with RPAS) on a European and international level, with the intention of giving this stakeholder group a common voice in the continuing regulatory debate, which will impact them.

2012 general assembly

The association’s General Assembly (GA) for 2012 took place in Paris, France in February 2013. At this GA several new members joined the association’s Board of Directors, namely:- RAdm Christopher Ames, General Atomics Aeronautical

Systems, USA (replacing Steve May - who had retired);- Paolo Marras, Aermatica, Italy;- Itai Toren, Bluebird Aero Systems, Italy;- Jürgen Verstaen, Flight Plus, Belgium;and Peter La Franchi, LFRG International, Australia was

accepted as an Observer on the Board.Furthermore, a new categorisation of members and an increase in membership fees was accepted, and it was decided that the new membership fees would be applicable to membership applicants submitting their applications starting on 1 March 2013.

In order to put less financial strain on the members and for reasons of efficiency, it was decided to organise all future general assemblies in conjunction with conference organised in Brussels, Belgium.

europe - european rpas steering group

Based on the roadmaps developed by the three sub-groups of the European RPAS Steering Group, the final proposal of the Steering Group’s integrated roadmap was produced by the Steering Group and submitted to the European Commission for their rvaluation and comments.

germany - easa - npa 2012-10 Follow-up meeting

In view of the comments submitted by UVS International in response to the NPA published by EASA, the association was invited to participate in a workshop that took place at EASA headquarters in Cologne, Germany on 4 & 5 March 2013.

At this meeting EASA presented a revised version of the NPA, that took into account the comments received and accepted by EASA. The meeting attendees agreed on a further revised version. Subsequently, it was decided by EASA that the new text was so fundementally different from the original text, that a new NPA would have to be issued.

the netherlands - rpas workshop at atc global

On 12 March 2013, UVS International organised, on invitation of the event organisers, a special RPAS workshop (Integrating RPAS into Civil Airspace) at ATC Global in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ATC Global is the world’s largest air traffic control equipment exhibition. The presentations given at this workshop are posted on www.uvs-info.com

France- astech rpas symposium

On 25 April 2013, ASTech, the Paris region’s aerospace cluster, organised an RPAS symposium in Paris, France. At this event the UVS International President gave a keynote speech on RPAS-related regulatory activities in Europe and emphasized the importance of the use of the correct terminology. The presentations given at this workshop are posted on www.uvs-info.com

europe - european rpas steering group meeting

On 23 May 2013, a meeting of the European RPAS Steering Group (UVS International is a member) took place in Brussels,

FH-Joanneum RPAS SymposiumGraz, Austria - 28 May 2013


Belgium. At this meeting the comments of the Steering Group’s members on the final draft of the European RPAS Roadmap were discussed.

austria - national rpas research symposium

On 28 May 2013, UVS International gave the keynote speach at the Austrian national RPAS Symposium organized by FH-Johaneum (University of Applied Sciences) in Graz, Austria. This event brought a large segment of the Austrian research community together.

new edition of www.uvs-info.com

Subsequent to a major hacking incident, it was necessary to totally reconstruct this web site using a new operating system and putting significant security measures in place. The new edition went online in May 2013.

This generic web site is now probably the world’s largest with information on remotely piloted systems (air, ground & naval). The online library (access restricted to UVS International members) contains RPAS-related documents in the following categories: a) governmental; b) military; c) regulatory; d) reports; e) studies; f) thesis; g) white papers; h) Access 5; i) model aircraft & related regulations; j) UVS International presentations; k) national RPAS communities; UVS News Flash editions; l) Press articles; m) Aviation terminology.

This web site also contains the world’s largest online collection of RPAS-related brochures, product & technical performance sheets, and photo galleries. Documents referring to the products and services of UVS International members are accessible to all visitors. However, the documents referring to the products and services of companies and the organisations that are not a member of UVS International, are only accessible to UVS International members.

european rpas roadmap remittance

On 20 June 2013, the European RPAS Roadmap remittance ceremony took place in the GIFAS Chalet (GIFAS = Grouping of French Aerospace Manufacturers) at the Paris Air Show.

After a short welcome by a GIFAS representative, the opening speech was giving by Philippe Brunet [Directorate General (DG) Enterprise & Industry]. In his opening speech Mr Brunet explained the context, the start up of the European UAS Panel that was announced at the Paris Air Show in 2011, and the subsequent establishment of the European RPAS Steering Group. Mr Brunet also stressed the positive influences the opening of the RPAS market would have on the European economy and in the field of job creation.

The European RPAS Steering Group is co-chaired by DG Enterprise & DG Mobility & Transport, and consists of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking, European Civil Aviation Conférence (ECAC), Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS), European Space Agency (ESA), European Defence Agency (EDA), EUROCAE, Association of European Research Establishments for Aeronautics (EREA), European Cockpit Association (ECA), Association of European Aerospace & Defence Manufacturers (ASD), UVS International. Representatives of most of these organisations were present.

Mr Brunet thanked the European RPAS Steering Group for their diligent work and efforts, which have resulted in the production of the European RPAS Roadmap. He then passed the word to Bernhard Gewert (CEO of EADS Cassidian), Rini Goos (EDA)

and Peter van Blyenburgh (UVS International), who all made statements on the importance of the European RPAS Roadmap for the European RPAS community, and all three expressed the commitment of their organizations to contribute to the implementation of the roadmap.

Subsequently, the four documents, a high level document & 3 annexes, that constitute the European RPAS Roadmap were handed over, on behalf of the European RPAS Steering Group, by Peter van Blyenburgh and Bernhard Gerwert to Matthias Ruete (DG Mobility & Transport) and Philippe Brunet.

The event was closed by a speech by Matthias Ruete, during which he explained the importance of the work at hand, as well as the spin-off potential for other aviation sectors. Mr Ruete also emphasized the commitment of DG Mobility & Transport and DH Enterprise & Industry, in close cooperation with each other, to progress the implementation of the roadmap.The four documents that constitute the European RPAS Roadmap are posted on www.uvs-info.com under the “European Matters” tab in the main menu bar.

Belgium - rpas 2013 - 15th edition

The association’s 15th annual RPAS conference took place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 24-27 June 2013.

This event has become Europe’s principal RPAS conference & RPAS-related regulatory and policy forum; it is coordinated with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), European Commission, EASA, Eurocontrol, ECAC, SESAR Joint Undertaking, JARUS, Eurocae WG73, and Eurocae WG93 on Light RPAS. See www.uvs-info.com

rpas yearbook - 11th edition

The 11th edition of the annual RPAS Yearbook (RPAS: The Global Perspective) was published in June 2013. This first issues of this publication, which has a steadily growing number of contributors and seems to get larger each year, was made available to all attendees at the European RPAS Roadmap remittance ceremony, as well as to all participants in the RPAS 2013 conference. An electronic copy of this publication is available in flipbook format on www.uvs-info.com

France - imav 2013

IMAV, the International Micro Air Vehicle Conference & Flight Competition, this year took place at ENAC in Toulse, France on 17-20 September 2013. The UVS International President gave a keynote address on the importance of regulations and

The remittance ofthe European RPAS Roadmapto the European Commission


of RPAS-related rules and regulations was emphasized. And in his closing statement, he invited the Chinese Ministry of Transport to become more active in the ICAO UAS Study Group, and he strongly suggested that it was in its interest that the Civil Aviation Authority of China to rapidly join JARUS. See www.uvs-info.com

portugal - aFsea rpas symposium

The first national Portuguese RPAS symposium took place at the Academia da Força Aérea, Granja do Marquês, Sintra (near Lisbon) on 15 October 2013. This event, which had the slogan «From Strategy to Action» was organised by AFCEA Portugal (a non-profit association) in coordination with the Portuguese Ministry of Defence and brought together 125 persons.

The UVS International President gave the keynote speech at this event and called for the Portuguese RPAS community to actively support the implementation of the European RPAS Roadmap, and to avoid making the mistakes many others had already made. Furthermore, he strongly suggested that it would be in the interest of Portugal’s RPAS community if INAC, the national aviation authority, would join JARUS.

In the afternoon 5 Portuguese RPAS manufacturers performed flight demonstrations. The presentations given at this symposium are posted on www.uvs-info.com

portugal - meeting with inac

On 16 October 2013, the UVS International President had a meeting with INAC representatives. At this meeting a possible approach to national RPAS regulation and the use of a qualified entity was explained and the advantages of this approach were highlighted. It was again suggested that the national aviation authority consider the advantages of joining JARUS.

Subsequent to this meeting, a written report was submitted to INAC for their consideration.

how RPAS regulations were being addressed on a national, European and international level, and participate in a panel session with representatives from ICAO and Airbus. See www.uvs-info.com

germany - photogrammetry week 2013

On invitation of the organisers, the UVS International President gave a keynote speech at the 54th annual Photogrammetry Week. The purpose of the speech was to broaden the awareness of the international photogrammetry community relative to the rules and regulations applicable to RPAS operations, and to reach out to this community by informing its members that they have a vital role to play as an RPAS stakeholder to help shape the future rules and regulations.

This long-standing international conference is dedicated to photogrammetry and took place in Stuttgart, Germany on 10-13 September 2013. The Photogrammetry Week, which brought together 450 delegates from over 40 countries, was organised by the Institute of Photogrammetry at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. See www.uvs-info.com

china - uas china 2013

UVS International again partnered with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC); Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd.; China Aviation Supplies Holding Company; CCPIT Sub-Council of Aviation Industries; China Aviation Publishing & Media Co.,Ltd.; China Promotion Ltd, Hong Kong to organise this event, which took place at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing, China on 25-28 September 2013.

At the associated exhibition, 56 mostly Chinese RPA were exhibited. A photographic review of all the RPA and associated equipment exhibited can be found on www.uvs-info.com

The UVS International President lead a delegation of 10 foreign speakers and gave a keynote address in which the importance

RPAS Latin America 2013 Delegates

Photogrammetry Week Delegates



UVS International partnered for the 5th consecutive year with Expo-Ecos, Russian Fed. to organise this national conference & exhibition, which took place at the All Russian Exhibition Centre in Moscow, Russian Fed. on 22-25 October 2013, under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

UVS International Board Member Alexander Koldaev gave the keynote presentation at this national event. See www.uvs-info.com

Brazil - rpas latin america - 2nd edition

UVS International and DCA-Br, Brazil again partnered to organise the second Latin American RPAS conference & exhibition. This event, which was supported by ANAC (national Brazil civil aviation authority) & DECEA (national Brazilian military flight authority) and coordinated with the ICAO regional office in Lima, Peru, took place in San José dos Campos on 29-31 October 2013.

The conference was opened by Carlos Silveira Pellegrino, the director of ANAC. This international RPAS event attended by delegates from Brazil, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Peru, Venezuela, UK, USA and the national aviation authority of Venezuela. See wwww.uvs-info.com

new uvs international web site

In November 2013, UVS International’s new web site went online. Subsequent to the hacking of its web site, it had been necessary to change its operating system, increase safety measures and totally reconstruct web site. At the same time the site was made more user friendly.

The brochures, product & technical data sheets of all UVS International members, as well as a photo gallery of their products and all presentations given by UVS International since its inception are posted and accessible to all visitors.

France - Fédération professionnelle du drone civil

On 4 November 2013, the UVS International President attended the first general assembly of the newly founded Fédération Professionnelle du Drone Civil (which supercedes UAS France). At this event, which was attended by approximately 140 members, the association’s statute was approved and its Board of Directors was voted into office.

Keynote addresses were given by Maxim Coffin, DGAC, France and the UVS International President, who emphasized the importance for the French RPAS community to actively participate in the implementation of the European RPAS Roadmap and related actions.

norway - unc 2013

On 12 November 2013, the UVS International President gave the keynote presentation at UNC 2013, the annual national Norwegian RPAS conference organised by UAS Norway, the national association. The keynote presentation addressed the topic of the European RPAS Roadmap and the importance for the Norwegian RPAS community to actively participate in its implementation. Furthermore, very constructive presentations were given by the deputy director general of the national aviation authority, the director general of the national air navigation service provider, and a member of the Norwegian parlement.

easa - crd 2012-10 - 2nd edition

On 18 November 2013, EASA published the Comment-Response Document (CRD) 2012-10, which contains a summary of the comments on NPA 2012-10 of 21 August 2012 and a summary of the subsequent ‘focused consultation’, undertaken by the Agency, and its conclusions thereto.

The scope of the NPA is to align the European rules of the air with Amendment 43 to ICAO Annex 2, which is devoted primarily to remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). This task also implements Article 4(a) and 4(b) of Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 on the Single European Sky, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1070/2009.

Based on 224 comments from 61 commentators, and the ‘focused consultation’, the Agency concludes that:• The vast majority supported that option 2A (i.e. publish as soon

as possible common rules to transpose amendment 43 to ICAO Annex 2 into SERA) in the RIA, would be the way forward;

• Stakeholders agreed that the scope of the Agency is not limited to international civil aviation;

• Stakeholders also agreed that toys and model aircraft should not be covered by detailed common EU rules, but subject to a general obligation to minimise hazards to third parties;

• Transposition should be limited to obtain the special authorisation to operate RPAS internationally;

• AMC/GM (not included in NPA 2012-10) can be provided on other aspects, including airworthiness, licensing of remote pilots and operations, for which specific EU common rules do not yet exist.

EASA, based on the above conclusions, has developed a new text of the proposed rules (much slimmer legally binding implementing rules and much larger AMC/GM). This new text represents a radical departure from the text proposed by NPA 2012-10.

Consequently, the Agency does neither intend for the moment to adopt any Opinion, nor to publish the revised text in this CRD. On the contrary, the Agency intends to submit the resulting text of the proposed Opinion and Decision through a new NPA to give stakeholders, who were not directly involved in the focused consultation, a fair opportunity to comment.

survey: rpas & accessibility of the eu market

The absence of safety regulations for RPAS operations is the main showstopper for the development of civil RPAS applications. Six Member States (MS) have now adopted regulations allowing limited RPAS operations. In these countries RPAS activities are rapidly expanding. Seven other MS are developing their national rules (and more may follow), further opening the European Union (EU) market. However, today most companies are mainly active on their own national market (or outside Europe), and face difficulties to develop businesses in other EU MS.

The Roadmap for the integration of civil RPAS into the European Air System issued in June 2013 calls for the harmonization of the European regulation and even for common rules in order to create a true European market for RPAS applications. However, the market remains fragmented.

In addition to a regulatory initiative, the European Commission (EC) intends to support the development of RPAS businesses by facilitating their access to the EU market through dedicated measures. In order to identify the main problems faced by small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop their business, in particular in other EU MS, the EC developed a questionnaire and requested UVS International to use its web


site to disseminate it to the EU RPAS community.

The replies to this questionnaire formed the basis of an interactive public discussion between the EC Directorate General (DG) Enterprise & Industry and the audience the first day of the RPAS CivOps 2013 conference, which took place in Brussels, Belgium (9-11 December 2013).

In order to supply additional information to the EC DG Enterprise & Industry UVS International decided to extend the response period relative to this questionnaire to 18 January 2014. The questionnaire can be found on www.uvs-info.com - See the “Study Groups” tab in the upper menu bar on the home page.

Belgium - rpas civops - 2nd edition

The association’s second annual RPAS CivOps conference, dedicated to non-military RPAS operations, which is coordinated with the European Commission (DG Enterprise & Industry; DG Mobility & Transport), EASA, Eurocontrol, ECAC and Eurocae WG93 on Light RPAS, took place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 9 -11 December 2013.

In addition to presentations by the European Commission, Eurocontrol, EASA and SESAR within the framework of the European RPAS Roadmap, as well as presentations by non-governmental RPAS operators (commercial, non-commercial, corporate), particular attention was paid to RPAS-related responsibility, liability and insurance, safety regulations for RPAS public flight and capability demonstrations, and the start up of a remotely piloted systems knowledge centre.

A special interactive session lead by the European Commission Directorate General Enterprise & Industry was held with the objective to make it possible for the European Commission to learn from the small & medium-sized RPAS enterprises present (manufactufrers & operators) what their immediate concerns are relative to the implementation of the European RPAS Roadmap, in order to be able to envisage how to best address these concerns.

In addition, all European national associations involved with RPAS gave presentations on the current status of commercial RPAS operations in their countries.

The complete conference programme and a photographic review of the event can be found on www.rpas-civops.org

uvs international study groups announced

In October 2013 UVS International launched a call for participation in Definition Teams that were to define the terms of reference (ToR) of three study groups that were to undertake work on the three subject matters that had been identified as of critical importance to the RPAS community and for which UVS International wanted to launch study groups, namely:• SG01 - RPAS Responsibility, Liability & Insurance• SG02 - RPAS Flight & Capability Demonstrations• SG03 - Remotely Piloted Systems Knowledge Centre

Study Groups: Definition Teams & Launch

SG01 - RPAS Responsibility, Liability & InsuranceBecause of the complexity of the ToR of this SG, and the necessity for the ToR to not transgress EU competition laws, it was decided to form a Definition Team composed of representatives from five distinct stakeholder groups, namely: Group 1 - Operators

- Paudie Barry, Baseline Surveys, Ireland- Peter van Blyenburgh, UVS International, The Netherlands

- Jürgen Verstaen, Flight Plus, Belgium Group 2 - Insurance

- Jean Fournier Global Aerospace France- Philippe Daouphars Kiln Group France

Group 3 - Legal - Arthur Flieger, Flieger Law Office, Belgium- Peter Lee, TaylorVinters, UK

Group 4 - Regulations - José Calvo Fresno, SESAR JU, Belgium- Christian Janke, European Aviation Security Center, Germany- Gert Kruiswijk, CAA, The Netherlands- Maya Markova, EUROCONTROL, Belgium

Group 5 - Industry - Ian Henn, Thales, UK- Paola Lanzi, DeepBlue, Italy- Andrea Maccapani, Selex ES, Italy

SG02 - RPAS Flight & Capability Demonstrations- Taurino Damiano, DeepBlue, Italy- Fabrizio D’Urso, ENAC (CAA), Italy- Henk Hesselink, NLR, The Netherlands- Christian Janke, European Aviation Security Center, Germany- Dr Josef Mendler, Acentiss, Germany- Catherine Ronfle-Nadaud, Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile,

France- Peter van Blyenburgh, UVS International, The Netherlands

SG03 - Remotely Piloted Systems Knowledge Centre- Catherine Ronfle-Nadaud, Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile,

France- Jan van Hulzen, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, The Netherlands- Geert de Cubber, Royal Military Academy, Belgium- Anders La Cour Harbo, University of Aalborg, Denmark- Dieter Fritsch, University of Stuttgart, Germany- Stefano Stramigioli, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Subsequently, representatives of each of the three study groups gave a presentation on the objectives of their groups and UVS International announced the creation of the three study groups at the RPAS CivOps 2013 conference in December 2013.

Subsequently a general call for participation in each of the study groups has been published. The call for participation and additional information can be found on www.uvs-info.com - See the “Study Groups” tab in the upper menu bar on the home page.

upcoming rpas operator study groups

UVS International is now organizing a study group that will federate RPAS Operators in the following sub-groups:• RPAS Aerial Work – Commercial;• RPAS Aerial Work – Non-Commercial;• RPAS Corporate Operations;• Governmental Non-Military Operations.

These study groups are to make it possible for UVS International members that are RPAS Operators to address RPAS matters that are of particular relevance to them, such as pilot training & qualification (& international acceptance), operator certification (& international acceptance), developments in the field of sensors, image processing software & RPAS, as well as insurance.

These study groups will also permit national and international regulatory authorities to obtain stakeholder opinions on proposed rulemaking. The activities of these study groups will be principally web-based.

survey on civil rpas operations

In order to obtain additional inputs and be able to draw more


balanced and meaningful statistics, it has been decided to extend the submission period relative to this survey to 1 May 2014. The principal motivation to do so was to be able to supply valid market data within the context of the European RPAS Roadmap. All current and possible future RPAS operators are invited to participate in this survey.

In the context of this survey “Operator” means: A person, organisation or enterprise engaged in or offering to engage in an aircraft operation. All relevant documents can be found under the «European Matters» tab on www.uvs-info.com

representing the rpas operator community

As is illustrated by the aforementioned, UVS International is actively engaged in federating the European and international RPAS operator’s community.

The first concrete step in this direction was its invitation to all European national RPAS associations, which count a substantial amount of operators among their members, to jointly form the European RPAS Coordination Council.

The second step in this direction, as announced at the RPAS CivOps 2013 conference, is the association’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Spacial Data Research Group (EuroSDR), which federates European national mapping and cadastre agencies, as well as related academic institutes, research organisations, industry & user groups, which represent significant potential for the use of RPAS and in a significant number of cases in various countries already use RPAS.

The purpose of this MoU is to provide a framework for continuing liaison between UVS International and EuroSDR relative to their common interest to address matters relating to the development of RPAS technology, standards, regulations and applications. UVS International will continue to reach out to all stakeholder groups, which are already using RPAS, or have significant RPAS usage potential.

uvs international’s 2013 general assembly

The association’s annual General Assembly took place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium in the afternoon of Wednesday 11 December 2013.

The General Assembly decided to grant non-executive status on the Board of Directors to the representatives of the qualified European national associations that are a member of UVS International and jointly form the European RPAS Coordination Council (a sub-set of the International Coordination Council).

Furthermore, the General Assembly also decided to extend this privilege to representatives of associations outside of the European Union that are members of UVS International and the International RPAS Coordination Council.

At this meeting the new Board of Directors, including eight members of the European RPAS Coordination Council, was unanimously voted into office. In view of the agreed upon topics, it was agreed that the association’s statute had to be adapted and this matter had to be dealt with forthwith.

ACTIVITIES IN 2014

Belgium - ec hearing on rpas liability & insurance

On 5 March 2014, a European Commission hearing on RPAS Liability & Insurance took place at EUROCONTROL

headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The event was organised by Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) within the context of a study awarded to it by the European Commission.

The objective of the hearing was permit SDG to present intermediate and temporary conclusions and discuss them with the attending stakeholders, and to permit selected stakeholders (insurance & legal experts, national aviation authorities, a qualified entity, manufacturers, operators, trade associations) to give their views. UVS International had been invited to give a presentation detailing, country-by-country, the European commercial RPAS market & the European regulatory situation. See the «European Matters» tab on www.uvs-international.org & www.uvs-info.com

the netherlands - capigi ‘14

CAPIGI is the network for geo-information experts active in agriculture. UVS International gave a presentation at their annual conference which took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 2-4 April 2014.

At this event, UVS International called for the agricultural geo-information community to constitute a dedicated stakeholder group of entities involved with RPAS.

usa - icaus 2014 - 7th edition

The seventh edition of the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which is organised by the ICAUS association (federating international academic institutions), took place in Orlando, Florida, USA on 27-30 May 2014.

The focus at the conference was on «developing RPAS standards». The UVS International president gave a keynote address entitled «The European Approach», which strongly focus on civil RPAS operators & related regulations, and the European RPAS Roadmap.

easa - sscc

In May 2014, EASA notified UVS International that it had been recognised as the representative of the European RPAS operators community, and that it was called on to nominate a candidate to the plenary of the EASA Safety Standards Consultative Committee (SSCC).

The SSCC focuses on addressing horizontal issues and coordinates with subcommittees. The functionof the SSCC is to:• Provide an opinion on the priorities assigned by the

subcommittees to the rulemaking tasks, and advise on the overall priorities in the future Rulemaking Programmes.

• Verify that appropriate changes contained within future Rulemaking Programmes are supported by a formal and structured (safety) case that justifies the need for regulation together with a Regulatory Impact Assessment that supports any required investment by Industry;

• Provide advice on the consistency of the Rulemaking Programme and the adaptation of existing rules in the light of experience gained in their application, and to take into account the technological and commercial evolution/progress;

• Provide advice on the development and use of regulatory tools and concepts insofar as they relate to the work of the Agency including, in particular, recommendations on risk assessment analysis, regulatory impact assessments and other tools to be employed in rulemaking;

• Provide advice as appropriate in the context of the on-going efforts to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency’s rulemaking processes and structures;


• Assist, and provide advice to, the Executive Director as required by EASA rulemaking procedures;

• Take initiative and express the position of interested parties on all aspects related to the rulemaking activities of the Agency whenever deemed appropriate;

• Provide advice on the setting up and composition of drafting groups as necessary in relation to specific rulemaking tasks;

• Consider rulemaking strategy and policy generation, together with cross group activities and the structure of the Rulemaking Programme as appropriate.

• Ensure communication with their respective stakeholders on issues these wish to bring to the attention of the Agency during the SSCC meetings, as well as keeping the stakeholders updated of decisions taken and issues discussed at the SSCC meetings.

The SSCC retains independence and a right of initiative on all aspects related to the rulemaking activities of EASA.


The association’s 16th annual international RPAS conference took place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 23-26 June 2014. It was officially opened by Siim Kallas, Vice President of the European Commission & Responsible for Transport.

This event has become the world’s leading RPAS policy conference. The principal topics at this event related to the European RPAS Roadmap and its implementation, RPAS regulations, non-military & military cooperation, and once again the conference was coordinated with ICAO, the European Commission, EASA, Eurocontrol, ECAC, SESAR JU, JARUS, ICAO, Eurocae WG73 & WG93. UVS International Study Groups presented position papers and all European national RPAS associations gave reviews of the commercial & non-commercial RPAS operations in their countries.See www.rpas-2014.org & www.uvs-info.com for additional information on this event.

France - technology & drones

On 27-29 June 2014, the 61st Artillery Regiment, which is totally dedicated to the operation of the French Army RPAS, is organising, with the support of the maire of Chaumont and the regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry, an RPAS event on its base in Chaument, France. This event, which will feature civil and military RPAS, will consist of conferences, an exhibition and flight demonstrations, and will have one day (27 June) reserved for professional visitors; during the two other days the event will be open to the general public.

Due to its longstanding relationship with the 61st Artillery Regiment, UVS International was invited to contribute to the organisation of this event and participate in the event’s closing roundtable discussion.

icao - Final uas study group meeting

The final meeting of the ICAO UAS Study Group took place at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada on 30 June - 4 July 2014. During this meeting the final adaptions of the ICAO RPAS Manual were made. The RPAS Manual will be presented at the Global RPAS Symposium that ICAO is organising at its headquarters in March 2015.

The ICAO UAS Study Group is being replaced by the ICAO RPAS Panel, which will have its first meeting in November 2014. The RPAS Panel will have as task to produce the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) pertaining to RPAS,

which are safety management guidelines intended to assist States in managing aviation safety risks.

russian Fed. - erBa 2014 - 2nd edition

The second international workshop on RPAS and aircraft with electric propulsion took place in Moscow, Russian Fed. on 1-4 July 2014, and featured conferences, a flight competition & demonstration flights (indoors & outdoors).

ERBA 2014 wa organised with the support of the Central Aerohydrodynamics Inst. (TsAGI), UVS International, Scientific & Production Centre Company “NELK” Ltd., SIE “Falt-Engineering”, Russian UAS Industries Association, and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). See http://erba.falt.ru

china - uas china 2014

The UAS China 2014 conference will take place in Beijing, China on 15 & 16 September 2014. UVS International has been invited by the organisers to contribute by to the conference programme by organising the international section of the conference programme, and give a keynote address.

china - atc global

ATC Global, an exhibition and conference focused on air traffic control matters, will take place in Beijing, China on 17-19 September 2014. UVS International has been invited by the organisers to contribute to the conference programme by organising a special session on RPAS related matters.

norway - unc 2014

UNC 2014, the national Norwegian annual RPAS conference organised by UAS Norway will take place in Oslo, Norway on 12 November 2014. UVS International will once again give a keynote address at UNC 2014.

Participants in the last ICAO UASSG Meeting


France - présent & Future des drones civils

On 13 & 14 November 2014 the French Air & Space Academy, in cooperation with the Aeronautical & Astronautical Association of France, is organising a symposium focussing on the current status and the future of civil RPAS.

This event will take place at the facilities of the French national aviation authorities (DGAC) in Paris, France on 13 & 14 November 2014. UVS International has been invited to give a keynote address at this event.

Belgium - rpas civops - 3rd edition

The association’s 3rd annual RPAS CivOps conference, dedicated to non-military RPAS operations, will take place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 2-4 December 2014. See www.rpas-civops.org for all relevant information and the possibility to submit presentation proposals & sponsor this event.

uvs international’s 2014 general assembly

The association’s annual General Assembly for 2014 will take place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium during the afternoon (14.00-17.00) of Thursday 4 December 2014.

ACTIVITIES IN 2015

icao - global rpas symposium

The first global RPAS symposium organised by ICAO will take place at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada on 23-25 March 2015. It is expected that this historic and important event will bring together approximately 1500 delegates from all around the world. UVS International has been invited to contribute to establishing the conference programme and will have an active presence at this event.

There will be exhibition possibilities for RPAS manufacturers and operators, as well as for service suppliers to the RPAS community. Indoor flight demonstrations of nano & micro RPAS are planned. Additional information on this event, including participation and sponsoring opportunities will be made known on www.uvs-info.com


The 17th edition of the association’s annual conference, which has become the international RPAS policy forum, will take place at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium on 22-25 June 2015 (the week following the Paris Air Show).

GENERAL

UVS International welcomes enquiries from national and international associations, organisations and government authorities interested to discuss collaboration relative to remotely piloted systems, including the organisation of events

in their territory.

UVS International’s primary focus is currently very clearly on RPAS and RPAS-related airworthiness, certification and air traffic management issues. As indicated earlier on, the problems associated with these issues should not be seen only on a national, regional or continental level, but on a global scale.

The association is striving to play an international advocacy and federating role in order to tackle the problems associated with inserting RPAS into non-segregated airspace and to be instrumental to making it possible to harmonise the various national & international approaches at the earliest possible stage.

However, UVS International is also starting to look beyond RPAS.UVS International is now endeavouring to undertake steps to federate the international unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and the unmanned maritime systems (UMS) communities. There is the intention to bring out a UGV Yearbook (UGV: The Global Perspective) and an UMS Yearbook (UMS: The Global Perspective). The UGV & UMS Info Sections on www.uvs-info.com give an overview of the work that has already been accomplished by the association in preparation for this publication. Contributions and suggestions are welcome.

continued outreach to the international uvs community

Within the context of its Global Access Initiative, UVS International will continue to reach out, to all stakeholders, associations and organisations dedicated to furthering remotely piloted systems and interested in their safe utilisation.

external relations & recognition

UVS International is internationally recognised by numerous government authorities (civil & military), and a significant number of other organisations, as an impartial representative and advocate of the RPAS community. The association currently maintains relations of various nature with the following stakeholder

organisations:• AAI (national trade association, Austria• ACUO (national professional operators association), Australia;• Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), India;• Aerospace & Defence Manufacturers Association of Europe

(ASD);• Aerospace Industries of America (AIA), USA;• AERPAS (national trade association), Spain;• Air Navigation Services Providers in numerous countries;• Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA), USA;• Airbeam Consortium, Europe;• American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA), USA;• ANFR (National Frequency Agency), France;• Arctic Council UAS Expert Group (AMAP);

UVS International’s office in Paris, France

UVS International’s office, The Hague, The Netherlands


• ARPAS (national trade association), UK;• Associação Brasileira das Indústrias de Materiais de Defesa

e Segurança - Comitê de Veículos Não Tripulados, Brazil;• Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), UK;• ASSORPAS (national trade association), Italy;• ASTech (regional promotion organisation), France;• ASTM International, USA;• ASTRAEA Consortium, UK;• Atlantida Consortium, Spain;• Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation, Australia;• Australian UAS Academy (AUASA), Australia;• BeUAS Association (national trade association), Belgium;• British Model Flying Association, UK;• Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO);• Civil aviation authorities in over 40 countries;• CUAASA (multi-national trade association), Botswana &

Namibia & South Africa• Conseil Général de l’Armement (CGArm), France;• Conseil Général de l’Environnement Durable, France;• Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa;• DARIUS Consortium;• DARPAS (national trade association), The Netherlands;• Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), India;• Direction de la sécurité aéronautique d’Etat (DSAé) (national

organisation for safety of state aircraft), France;• Dutch Institute of Worldclass Maintenance, The Netherlands;• Europe Air Sports Association, The Netherlands;• European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA);• EUROCAE, France;• Eurocontrol, Belgium;• European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC);• European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC);• European Cockpit Association (ECA);• European Commission (EC);• European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC);• European Commission funded consortia with RPAS & UGV &

UMS-related study contracts;• European Defence Agency (EDA);• European Group of Institutes of Navigation (EUGIN);• European Institute, Washington, DC, USA;• European Space Agency (ESA);• European Spatial Data & Research Group (EuroSDR);• Federal Ministry of Interior, Germany;• Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Belgium;• FRONTEX, European Union Agency for Border Protection;• ICARUS Consortium, Europe;• ICAUS Association;• International Council of Aircraft Owners & Pilots Associations

(IAOPA);• International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Associations

(IFATCA), Canada;• International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA);• Interreg-2 Seas Consortium, Europe;• INTELI, Portugal;• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO);• International Micro UAS Competition (IMAV);• Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart, Germany;• Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), Brazil;• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan;• Japan UAV Association (JUAV), Japan;• Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS);• Korea Aerospace Research Institute, South Korea;• Korea UVS, South Korea;• MIDCAS Consortium, Europe;• Ministries of Defence & Ministries of Interior in many countries

(inside & outside of Europe);• NAMSA, Luxembourg;• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),

Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), USA;• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA;

• National Working Groups in various countries;• NATO ATM Committee (NATMC);• NATO C3 Agency, The Netherlands;• NATO FINAS;• NATO Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC);• NATO Joint Capability Group on UAV;• NATO Science & Technology Organization;• Norwegian Research Institute (NORUT);• PLATINO Consortium, Spain;• Police organisations in multiple countries;• Remote Control Aerial Photography Association (RCAPA), USA;• Reuters Institute for Journalism, University of Oxford, UK;• Royal Aeronautical Society, United Kingdom;• Royal Institute of Navigation, United Kingdom;• Royal Military Academy, Belgium;• Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), UK;• SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU);• Sistema Regional de Cooperación para la Vigilancia de la

Seguridad Operacional (SRVSOP), Peru;• RTCA, USA;• SAE International, USA;• UAS Denmark (national working group), Denmark;• UAS Norway (national trade association), Norway;• UAV DACH (national trade association), Germany;• UAV National Industry Team, (UNITE), USA;• UAVS (national trade association), UK;• ULTRA Consortium, Europe;• Universities & academies in numerous countries;• Unmanned Systems Canada (national trade ass.), Canada;• UVS Romania (national trade association), Romania;• U.S. Depart. of Defence, Policy Board on Fed. Aviation, USA;• U.S. Department of Transportation, Research & Innovative

Technology Administration, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, USA;

• U.S. Survey Office, USA.

INTERNATIONAL RPAS COORDINATION COUNCIL

Federating The International RPAS Community

austria

https://www.aaig.at

Belgium

www.beuas.be

France

www.federation-drone.org

italy

www.assorpas.it

norway

www.uasnorway.no

germany

www.uavdach.org

the netherlands

www.darpas.nl

australia

www.acuo.org.au

southern aFrica

www.cuaasa.org

romania

https://www.uvsr.org

united kingdom

http://arpas.co.uk

spain

www.aerpas.es

Correspondance & Visitors: UVS International - 86 rue Michel Ange, 2nd Building, 2nd Floor, FR-75016 Paris, FranceTel.: 33-1-46.51.88.65 - Fax: 33-1-46.51.02.55 - [email protected] - www.uvs-international.org

www.uvs-international.org

UVS International Background & Activities

Technology

Transcript of UVS International Background & Activities