Drones over Deutschland, reports Deutsche Welle
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.
