Boeing [BA] and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have signed an agreement whereby the regulatory agency will take possession of two of the company’s ScanEagle Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for actual and simulated flight testing to conduct research in guiding efforts to integrate unmanned aircraft into the National Air Space (NAS). The two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement includes the two ScanEagles, which are considered small UAS systems, two ground control stations, spare parts, launch and recovery mechanisms, and related documentation so that FAA personnel from the William Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City can operate and work with the systems. The FAA is on schedule to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking early in 2011 governing small UAS, weigh 55 pounds or less. The rulemaking, which ultimately is expected to result in a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) for small UAS, is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The SFAR will define flight rules, design and construction standards for small UAS, operator and pilot certification and training requirements, including medical standards for operating these aircraft. Then the FAA will also look at how the system operates in the NextGen Air Transportation System that is now beginning to modernize the NAS.
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