The UK’s Military Aviation Authority (MAA) has published a number of new regulations under a notice of authorised amendment (NAA) 15/03 for Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS), which went live on January 19, 2015.
The publication of the regulations marks the end of a 15-month review by an MAA multi-disciplinary team formed from staff across all areas of the MAA as well as members from the UK’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Airworthiness and Unmanned Air Systems teams.
The new RPAS regulations introduce a classification system where RPAS are categorized according to criteria including their size, how they are operated and the risk to life they pose to people on the ground. The category an RPAS receives will determine the level of regulation it will have to meet, ranging from full compliance for the largest RPAS that present the greatest risk to life, down to no regulation for the smallest.
