FAA Announces Expanded Federal Partnership for UAS

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says in a news update that it and other government agencies involved in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are expanding participation in the UAS Executive Committee (EXCOM), which includes representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and FAA.

The FAA says membership is now being expanded to include the Departments of the Interior, Justice and Commerce, which operate UAS for applications including firefighting and law enforcement.

According to the FAA, the committee – which is expected to meet every quarter – was established by the 2009 Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act, which focuses on the U.S. Department of Defense’s UAS access into national airspace.

“Although NASA operates unmanned aircraft as part of its flight test mission, NASA’s primary role in the UAS EXCOM is focused on our research and development efforts,” says Robert Pierce, deputy associate administrator for strategy at the office of the associate administrator at NASA Aeronautics Research. “We look forward to the exchange of ideas with our UAS EXCOM partners. The committee provides federal agencies with a forum to share information and reduce redundancies on UAS research and development and resolve policy and procedural issues on safe UAS integration into the nation’s airspace.”