On 29.11.2022, the European Commission announced its Drone Strategy 2.0. It wants to offer the European drone market new opportunities and further developments not only to make the use of drones commonplace, but also to create the world's most advanced safety framework.

Previous use of drones

In the European Union, drones have mostly only been used for smaller tasks. They have mainly been used for surveying infrastructure, monitoring oil spills and soil sampling. Sometimes drones have also been used to transport small medical supplies such as laboratory samples. There is still room for improvement in drone strategies. This is now set to change.

From the introduction of U-Space, the dedicated airspace for drones, in January 2023, the whole topic of drones is set to become part of everyday life for many people. Drones will then no longer be used solely by the military or for smaller purposes, but also for more commercial projects.

Strategies for drones in everyday life until 2030

In its Drone Strategies 2.0, the European Commission also describes its vision of the drone market in 2030, by which time drones will be performing important tasks for the general public.

Civilian drones will then be part of the emergency services. They will deliver medicines and may already be able to transport patients. They will also help with mapping, inspections and other monitoring. Flight operations should also be fully automated by then. Drones will then also act as so-called air cabs and transport people from A to B.

The Commission has come up with strategies to turn these ideas into reality. The training of pilots for the various types of drones and especially VTOLs will be renewed and expanded. In order to bring the European drone market into a commercial environment, an online platform for stakeholders and for the sustainable air mobility industry is also to be introduced. Furthermore, a strategic drone technology roadmap will enable a precise and independent organization of research and innovation.

The synergy between the civilian and military use of drones should also result in drone defense solutions for security. The Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, estimates that European drone services will be worth a total of 14.5 billion euros by 2030 and provide around 145,000 jobs.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday (November 29 and 30, 2022), the 60th Annual General Meeting of the UAV DACH e.V. - Association for Unmanned Aviation took place. The UAV DACH e.V. office had invited guests to the German Helicopter Center in Bückeburg. In addition to the extensive agenda items, there was of course plenty of time to talk about the drone economy and meet new and old faces.

Specialist groups and close cooperation with the authorities

The chairman of the association, Mr. Achim Friedl, led those present in the hall and those connected online through the extensive agenda. The addition of 18 new members brings the association to a total of 256 members from the various sectors of unmanned and manned aviation. Particular emphasis was placed on the work of the UAV Dach e.V. specialist group, which was carried out in closer cooperation with the various authorities.

AG Zukunft - New concept presented and adopted at the general meeting

In order to put the association on a solid footing for the future, the Future Working Group drew up a comprehensive concept. This was presented in detail on Tuesday and highlighted the association's good features and those in need of improvement. A number of resolutions were derived from this, such as the expansion of the Executive Board and a more division-specific structure. The members voted in favor of this future concept by a large majority, and the first part is already being implemented.

New interim Management Board

The new Board of UAV Dach will also be elected until the next Annual General Meeting in the new year, and an interim Board has been appointed to bridge this period. Mr. Achim Friedl, Ms. Sabrina John and Dr. Gerald Wissel were elected as interim board members at the general meeting to continue the business until the new board is elected.

Aircraft radio was introduced for communication in aviation. This was divided into different classes, including BZF I and BZF II.

What BZF is

The restricted radiotelephony certificate is a radiotelephony certificate for the flight service. There are different classes of this certificate with different authorizations. The first class (BZF I) entitles the holder to use radiotelephony in German and English in accordance with visual flight rules.

There is also the BZF II, which allows radiotelephony within Germany in German according to the visual flight rules.

You can find detailed descriptions of other classes of aircraft radio certificates on the website of the Federal Network Agency.

Why this is relevant for drones

As the BZF I and BFZ II are valid for visual flight, unmanned flying objects, i.e. UAV and UAS, are also included. For users of the VLOS, EVLOS and BVLOS operating modes, the aeronautical radio certificate is not uninteresting, as communication with the USSP will be mandatory from January 2023 as part of the new regulation.

The flight radio certificate is therefore also important for the USSP, as it must communicate with the pilots to ensure the safety of the drones.

Due to the new regulation, it is also advisable to have a radio operator's certificate in addition to a drone driver's license or remote pilot's license when flying drones.

The UAS team at b.r.m. IT & Aerospace has many qualifications and awards. The IT and UAS consultant Markus Rossol is in possession of the BZF I certificate. The license for the restricted radiotelephony certificate I for the aeronautical radio service is issued by the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway.

SESAR was created to ensure that the symbiosis in air traffic can take place properly.

What is SESAR?

The Single European Sky ATM Research Program, SESAR for short, is a pan-European initiative. It was initiated by the European Commission and the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL). Its tasks are similar to those of JARUS.

Together with all partners involved in air traffic, the initiative aims to ensure that national airspaces grow together. To this end, European air traffic management services must be standardized, harmonized and synchronized. The goals of SESAR include tripling the capacity of the air traffic sector and increasing safety tenfold. In addition, flights are to become more environmentally friendly and air traffic management more cost-effective.

Urban Air Mobility

In addition to conventional air traffic, SESAR is also working on the integration of drones into existing airspace. To this end, a new concept is being presented: Urban Air Mobility.

This SESAR concept divides the areas under the drones into Rural, Suburban, Urban and Airport. Rural refers to rural areas with trees and small houses. Suburban areas are small suburbs of metropolitan areas with medium-sized houses. In Urbans (city centers), landing pads are planned in addition to high-rise buildings. These can be used for both helicopters and drones. The Airport area is the most difficult zone, as this is where manned and unmanned aircraft meet.

How this system works in detail is described on the SESAR website.

b.r.m. and the drone industry

The employees of Bremen-based IT service provider b.r.m. first underwent further training and then the company evolved into b.r.m. IT & Aerospace has evolved. The company is perfectly suited as a USSP thanks to its many years of experience in IT and its GDPR-compliant data center. Sufficient efforts and countless contacts have already firmly anchored b.r.m. in the drone industry. As a result, b.r.m. IT & Aerospace has important contacts such as Senior Aerotechnical Consultant Maximilian Strauß at its disposal.

The USSP b.r.m. and U-Space Norddeutschland are featured in the January issue of the trade magazine Drones to coincide with the entry into force of the EU Implementing Regulation on U-Space. The market pressure is there. Read the exclusive article here in advance:

This article was published in issue 1/2023 of the trade journal Drones, the magazine for the drone economy. This and all other available issues are available in the magazine store at https://www.alles-rund-ums-hobby.de/drones/ .

So that not every pilot can decide for themselves how low they want to fly, there are standardized minimum flight altitudes in Europe. This MSA is measured by AGL.

AGL

In aviation, the abbreviation AGL stands for above ground level. This refers to the height above ground, i.e. the distance from the ground to the flying object.

In addition to AGL, there is also MSL. It indicates how high the flying object flies above the water.

MSA

The MSA is the required minimum flight altitude above the ground. The minimum flight altitude must be maintained for reasons of flight safety and the protection of persons and noise.

To this end, SERA has defined various minimum flight altitudes for European airspace. An MSA of at least 300m above the highest obstacle within a radius of 600m therefore applies above densely populated areas and gatherings of people. In all other cases, an AGL of at least 150m applies.

These rules apply both in the special flight zones and in the normal flight zones. Logically, however, they do not apply when taking off and landing.

Radar altimeter

The AGL of larger aircraft is measured using a radar altimeter. An on-board radar device measures the exact altitude of an aircraft. Put simply, the radar emits short electromagnetic waves towards the ground. These are reflected on the ground and received again by the radar altimeter. The altitude of the flying object is calculated from the time from the radar to the ground and from the ground to the radar. However, this technology works on land and not on water.

The UAV DACH e.V. association has developed safety concepts for UAS operations. You can find them here.

As part of the 7th North German Aviation Forum, the Weser Report interviewed Mr. Harald Rossol and Mr. Markus Rossol from b.r.m.. You can read the article on the Weser Report website or here in our blog.

Source: Weser Report / Emre Altug

The 7th North German Aviation Forum kicked off in Bremen on October 6, 2022 with over 120 managers and specialists from the aerospace industry. This important aviation event this year was organized by the Senator for Economics, Labour and Europe in cooperation with the host AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V., among others. The event included discussions on supply chains and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Supply chains - 1st part of the event

The 7th North German Aviation Forum was opened with a speech by Kristina Vogt, Senator for Economic Affairs, Labor and Europe. She spoke about the high pressures and challenges facing the industry due to the war in Ukraine, the pandemic and supply bottlenecks. However, local production in particular has a lot of potential due to these developments.

Unmanned aircraft - 2nd part of the 7th North German Aviation Forum

In her opening speech, the Senator called aerospace the central innovation cluster of the North. In addition to the well-known industry giants such as Airbus, small and medium-sized companies in particular have been hit hard by the crises.

Mr. Achim Friedl, Chairman of UAV DACH e.V., the largest German-speaking professional association for UAS use in Europe, gave the introductory lecture on the challenges and opportunities of unmanned aviation. In Germany, there are still considerable obstacles to the integration of unmanned aircraft into conventional air traffic. On the one hand, the EU regulations have yet to be implemented and, on the other, research still needs to be carried out.

With its high number of participants at the 7th North German Aviation Forum, it illustrates the importance of sustainable supply chains and the integration of UAS into manned air traffic, as well as the potential of the industry in northern Germany.

Various flight zones have been introduced to make flights clearer and safer. These include a TRA and a TMZ, which must be observed by the pilot.

TRA - limited in time

A temporary restricted area (TRA) is a flight area that is temporarily restricted. Air traffic is temporarily or permanently restricted in this airspace. This is intended to prevent threats to public safety or order. A TRA is often located near military training areas.

Clearance to fly over is then issued by NOTAM. A NOTAM can also change the vertical extent of the flight restriction area.

TMZ - more transparency for more security

A transponder mandatory zone (TMZ) is a mandatory transponder zone. The use of a transponder is therefore mandatory in this area. A TMZ is usually located near regional airports, as it protects civil air traffic. A TMZ is visible on the pilot's ICAO chart and also indicates the frequencies in which the pilot must remain.

The clearance of this airspace is not required by air traffic control during the day, as this is controlled airspace E.

Basic training pilot license

Both flight zones are part of air traffic control and the basic training of a pilot. You learn about the TMZ and the TRA during training for a private pilot license (PPL). Flugschule Borkum GmbH offers such training at the Oldenburg-Hatten EDWH airfield, among others.

Harald Rossol, the founder and managing director of b.r.m. IT & Aerospace, is developing methods and approaches for the use of drones in air traffic. Under the term "U-Space", possibilities and opportunities for the use of drones are to be developed and implemented. The Oldenburg-Hatten airfield (EDWH) served as a representative location for a get-together with AVIASPACE Bremen e.V. and other industry experts.