“UAS, I think, is probably one of the biggest innovations that has come out in technology,” stated HAI president and CEO Matt Zuccaro at the start of yesterday’s discussion on unmanned aerial systems (UAS). For the first time in its existence, Heli-Expo played host to UAS exhibitors this year, five of them in fact. Over the past year, HAI established a 20-member UAS committee, and at the annual membership breakfast here in Louisville, a new UAS membership category open to any organization or individual who operates unmanned systems exclusively, was proposed and unanimously accepted.

HAI played an advisory role in the establishment of the FAA’s UAS registry, which opened in December. Since then it now numbers more than 350,000 UAS operators, vastly outnumbering the total of registered manned aircraft. Zuccaro, like many, believes that constitutes just the tip of the iceberg, as the number of UAS that have been purchased over the past few years in the U.S. is estimated to be near 1 million. Globally, economic forecasts call for a market for unmanned aircraft approximating $80 billion. “It gives you a sense of what we’re talking about here, when we’re talking about UAS,” said Zuccaro.

As they continue to evolve, commercial UAS will no doubt have an even larger impact on the airspace, with capabilities that will mirror those of their military counterparts. “We support the technology,” said Zuccaro. “The deficiencies can be overcome in terms of our concerns about how they integrate.”

He spelled out the concerns the association presented to the FAA, which include limitation to line-of-sight operations until the technology is proven, sensing and avoidance technology to avoid other aircraft, required UAS communication and surveillance capability and a limitation to the maximum operating altitude and speed.

According to Zuccaro, the association has little concern about the use of UAS by commercial companies such as Google or Amazon, which he believes would have much to lose with reckless operation. “Our concern comes obviously with the hundreds of thousands of UAS that are purchased in retail shops and on the Internet by the average citizen who buys it, charges the battery and away they go,” he cautioned. In that case the association is hoping for recognition by these new operators that they are now in possession of an aircraft as defined by the FAA and flying in airspace with manned aircraft. “We view it as something that we as an industry need to be aggressive about. We need to get out there and know these people and in essence make them aware.”

As for the categories of missions the UAS are currently performing, Zuccaro noted there is now and will certainly be more overlap between the unmanned vehicles and manned rotorcraft. Rather than oppose it, he urged the audience to adopt the technology. “We have the most experience in low-altitude and vertical-lift operations,” he said, “so if the helicopter operators don’t embrace UAS technology and operations, someone else is going to do it because the technology is valuable and the customer base wants it.”