The U.K. House of Commons Select Committee on Defense July 11 said it is opening an inquiry into the current and future use of Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS)–or referred to as Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs)–by the military and intelligence communities.
This inquiry is the second of a series which have evolved from the inquiry: Towards the next Defense and Security Review. These inquiries cover a number of significant strands that members believe would benefit from further Defense Committee consideration.
The committee will make recommendations to inform the future development and use of RPAS by the United Kingdom in the context of the next Strategic Defense and Security Review.
The U.K.’s RPAS capabilities are established and, potentially, expanding, the committee said in discussing its planned examination.
Several systems, including the armed Reaper aircraft, have been used by U.K. forces in Afghanistan. The U.K. has bought six of the aircraft, according to General Atomics, which develops the aircraft. Italy has bought six as well, and the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified the U.S. Congress that France would like to buy some as well.
Within the United Kingdom, test flights in recent months to prove the technology for civilian unmanned aircraft have been carried out by the Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment (ASTRAEA) consortium. The program goal is to enable the routine use of UAS in all classes of airspace without the need for restrictive or specialized conditions of operation. ASTREA is an approximately $93.6 million effort of seven companies: AOS, BAE Systems,EADS’ Cassidian, Cobham, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce and Thales.
The committee wants to examine: Nomenclature: defining the terms RPAS, UAS and “drone;” their current utility and dispersal, as in “‘for what purposes are RPAS used currently?;” and what are the lessons learned from operations in Afghanistan. Additionally, the committee will look at the potential for tomorrow: what additional capabilities will the U.K. seek to develop from now to 2020?; and what are the constraints on the use of RPAS in the U.K. and overseas.
Also, the committee will look at what ethical and legal issues arise from the use of RPAS. This area has been under some discussion in the United States with the use of UAVs to attack specific targets in other countries.