FAA takes slow flight path to domestic UAV approval.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs

WITH MORE THAN 50 U.S. companies involved in the unmanned aerial vehicle market, the pressure for the Federal Aviation Administration to approve their use in domestic air space is growing.

Progress, although slow, is being made, said the senior FAA official in charge of approving applications. As for the day when unmanned drones ply the skies with the same ease as general or commercial manned aviation, don't hold your breath, he told a conference of eager industry representatives.

The United States is in "day one" of the transformative technology, said Anthony Ferrante, director of the FAA's air traffic oversight service. "We really want to evolve this technology, but we want to do that under the 'do no harm' policy," he said at an Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems international conference.

While UAVs have proven their worth in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat theaters, the FAA has control of domestic air space. Regulations for UAV use are not in place, and won't be anytime soon. The agency only set up an office to oversee the budding industry last year. As of March, the office hadn't filled all its positions because Congress hadn't approved a budget for 2007.

So far the only way to fly a UAV outside restricted air space is to get a "certification of authorization" from the office or an "experimental" license. These are only good for individual aircraft, not models or programs. For example, when Bell Helicopter Textron's Eagle Eye rotorcraft...