Since January 2016, the FAA along with partners in industry and academia have been studying small UAS collision risks. Two projects to assess collision severity, air-to-air and air-to-ground, were undertaken and Aviation Week was able to obtain some findings from the yet to be released reports.
- Falling UAS may not be the threat first perceived due to flutter and drag that tend to reduce terminal velocity.
- Mid-air collisions with small UAS are not like birdstrikes.
The air-to-ground finding is especially good news because it can be used as a basis to loosen up Part 107 restrictions down the road or at least help out on obtaining waivers to fly over people not part of an operation. It also good for the counter-UAS community. Before deciding to engage a potential threat, the defender should consider the collateral damage caused by a crashing UAS. It may make them alter the engagement or not engage at all. With this new information, defenders will be able to better mitigate the risks.
The air-to-air finding is a mixed bag. It’s good to know a strike from a UAS and bird are not similar, but it also throws out a lot of applicable research. Our community will need to start from scratch with new computer models and testing. So, research may still be a few years away from finding its way into UAS design and operation.