New UAS rules on the table in Germany
Author: Mathias Bölinger / mz
Editor: Nancy Isenson
For hobby spy-enthusiasts, they have been available in Germany for quite a while: For 300 euros ($393), you can pick up a drone at most electronics stores. It’s a model-sized helicopter that can be fitted with a camera and used to film videos from above.
The police also have drones, which they use to monitor demonstrations, for example. They were used for the first time about a year ago during protests against a nuclear waste transport and to keep an eye on soccer matches in the state of Saxony.
But police are limited in the extent to which they can employ drones, with strict regulation of range, elevation, and flight times.
Current law says the unmanned flying objects cannot be bigger than a model, and that the skies are reserved for manned flying machines. But that’s about to change. A new airspace law, which is set to be approved Thursday, will open the skies for larger drones that have been only used by the military so far.
Avoiding the word
“There is a technological development that needs to be regulated,” said a spokesman from the German transport ministry.
Instead of using the military term ‘drone,’ the ministry prefers to refer to the aircraft as “unmanned aeronautical systems.” For the first time, these devices are to be included in air-traffic laws and allowed to “participate equally in air traffic,” according to the bill.
“It is not the case that the government is introducing drones,” said the ministry spokesman. The law only “creates the category” and allows for a procedure of approval. In addition to use by the police, these aircraft could be introduced to monitor traffic, survey land or in connection with environmental protection measures, the ministry said.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15690912,00.html
Related posts:
- NYPD May Employ Surveillance Drones reports Gay City News
- EADS to ask Germany to order Talarion drones
- Drones May Set Off a Flurry of Lawsuits
- North Dakota, federal officials weigh in on drones as law enforcement tool
- Privacy groups concerned at police drone reports Canberra Times
- ACLU Report on Domestic Drones Finds Need for New Privacy Protections
I don´t get why they do promote it in such a way. It is like said, they are introducing a category which for the first time covers UAS in a complete way. No words of regulations etc. Thats where the work will be done…
On the opposite we are seeing rules getting harder from year to year. We are a bit luckier than our US guys by having the possibility to gain permits to fly. The reason for the new law is mainly to stop people from using RC rules for commercial use (e.g. quadcopters which was not clear before)
The only thing I found interesting is that they define the UAS as the whole system, including airframe, datalink and ground equipment to be certified. So if you think to use a PC as GCS could become a problem…
Yes thats always been the case Marc that the System is the difficult bit. Talk in the UK of making it one laptop and control/data link per airframe and thats it. Remember also the data link is part of the system. So no chopping and changing. When I flew at Farnborough my JR radio had to be re-approved the normal RC licence was not enough. Expect lots of change when the WRC finally rules on all the frequencies that will be approved for UAS worldwide. Control, telemetry and video. Its coming. But we are much much better off than those in the USA. They are facing a steep mountain. Over there expect to be something along WG 73 lines with a touch of CAP 722.
Be interesting to see how many Police, private security firms etc try to get permission to operate overhead devices at the Olympics based on forthcoming European legislation.