Drone Traffic Management Policy Framework

In News

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified a traffic management policy framework for drones.
  • It envisages private, third-party service providers for ensuring safe operations.
• The framework has been issued under the Drone Rules 2021.

About the Framework

• Established Unmanned Traffic Management Service Providers(UTMSP):
  • It will extend automated, algorithm-driven software services instead of voice communication as in the traditional Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems. 
  • It will be responsible for segregating and separating a drone from other drones and manned aircraft in the airspace below 1,000 feet in the country.
• Integration of UTMSP and ATM:
  • So that flight plans and real-time location of manned aircraft can be recorded as well in order to continuously separate manned and unmanned aircraft from each other.
• Supplementary Service Providers(SSPs):
  • The traffic management providers will be assisted by SSPs.
  • It will maintain data about 
    • the terrain, 
    • Weather,
    •  location of manned aircraft and 
  • It would also provide services such as insurance, data analytics and drone fleet management.
• Access to Law Enforcement Agencies:
  • Law enforcement and security agencies will have access to some information in the UTM ecosystem on a need-to-know basis.
• Service Fee:
  • UTMSPs would levy a service fee on users
  • A small portion of which will also be shared with the Airports Authority of India.
• Geographic Presence:
  • UTMSPs will be deployed in small areas to begin with and their geographic presence may be increased subsequently.
• Public and Private Players:
  • The framework allows both public and private third-party service providers to manage unmanned aerial vehicles in lower airspace.
  • The government will carry out UTM-based experiments in the country and then float a request for proposal for onboarding UTMSPs.
  • Following which an evaluation process will be undertaken 
    • Thereafter , successful participants will be awarded regions for establishment of UTM services. 

Why a separate framework for drones?

• It has become important to safely manage both manned and unmanned aircraft, particularly at low-level airspace where the drones fly.
• Increasing number of drones:
  • The number of drones being used in India is all set to increase after the latest liberalized drone regulations.
• Inefficiency of design in current systems:
  • Current air traffic management (ATM) systems have not been designed to handle the traffic from unmanned aircraft.
• Scaling up: 
  • Traditional traffic management services provided by Air Traffic Controllers for manned aircraft cannot be scaled for managing drone traffic
    • Which is expected to become at least 100 times higher 
    • Since the traditional ATM is manual and requires human intervention.
• Integration would be cost ineffective:
  • Integration of unmanned aircraft in the Indian airspace using conventional means 
    • may require unmanned aircraft to be equipped with bulky and expensive hardware, which is neither feasible nor advisable
• Security concerns:
  • Drones being used to drop explosive devices, triggering blasts inside the Air Force Station’s technical area in Jammu.
  • Pakistan is regularly deploying drones over the past two years to smuggle arms, ammunition and drugs into Indian territory.
  • Rapidly proliferating drone technology and exponential growth of its global market, the possibility of a drone attack cannot be ruled out.
  • Recently, Iranian drones were apparently used in a strike on an oil tanker operated by an Israeli-owned company.

Source: TH