Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) research and future analysis

The primary objective of this report is to develop relationships between market forecasted use of unmanned aircraft and economic incentives. This paper summarizes a technical report produced by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) entitled “Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Service Demand 2015-2035: Literature Review and Projections of Future Usage” [1]. The report included analysis of the UAS technical areas, including command, control, and communications (C³) subsystems. The C³ area includes classic aviation components of Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS). The analysis includes survey and data collection of mission types and aircraft parameters to be used to develop technology forecasts for technical/product areas of unmanned systems and their use in the National Airspace System (NAS). The study addresses constraints pertaining to technology diffusion and regulatory changes needed to show where incentives can accelerate UAS integration into the NAS. Specific focus for this paper is the use of incentives in CNS.