The Air Advocacy Committee (AAC) of the Association of Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is accepting new members! Apply to see if you qualify.

The committee plays a pivotal role in shaping legislative and regulatory priorities within the aviation sector for the association. Through a consensus-driven approach and feedback from its membership, the AAC collaborates closely with federal regulators in the Executive Branch, legislators in the Legislative Branch, and their respective teams. It also engages with state, local, and tribal authorities to facilitate the meaningful integration of Unmanned/Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

The overarching objective of the AAC is to ensure that government regulations keep pace with industry advancements, fostering innovation rather than hindering it. The primary aim is to bolster the competitiveness of the United States in this dynamic sector.

The AAC comprises a diverse spectrum of member companies, encompassing UAS operators, manufacturers, software developers, defense contractors, Counter-UAS entities, AAM firms, Drone as First Responder (DFR) organizations, public safety experts, and more. The committee actively participates in both authorization and appropriations processes each year, with AUVSI leadership and several members testifying before Congress. What sets the AAC apart is its ability to set aside individual interests and unite, presenting a cohesive voice for all stakeholders in the uncrewed systems ecosystem.

Over sixty companies are AAC Committee members, including:

AAC Policy Priorities

  1. Establishing the AAC as the preeminent industry voice influencing UAS and AAM regulations and legislation and positioning the AAC, and AUVSI, positively for the upcoming 2023 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill (more on this below).
  2. Establishing a clear pathway for advanced UAS operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and ensuring the rulemakings associated with the BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recommendations are issued as quickly as possible.
  3. Ensuring domestic UAS and AAM companies have the resources they need to globally compete with companies that are heavily subsidized by their respective governments.
  4. Ensuring a favorable National Airspace System (NAS) for key UAS operations, including drone deliveries, routine public safety operations, critical infrastructure inspections, defense operations, counter-UAS operations, and other high-value, low-risk use cases.
  5. Fostering an inclusive airspace for AAM, Urban Air Mobility (UAM), and Regional Air Mobility (RAM) aircraft and operations.
  6. Creating a new regulatory framework that shifts away from the traditional aviation safety continuum, which does not work well for advanced aviation, and looks forward to establishing rules that unlock the full potential of UAS and AAM technologies.
  7. Developing next steps for the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) to work alongside the current air traffic management system.
  8. Ensuring that the FAA retains exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States in order to maintain safety and operational consistency across all users of the NAS.
  9. Providing law enforcement with the proper authority to mitigate errant or potentially malicious UAS and ensuring Preventing Emerging Threats Act compliance and consistent reauthorization.
  10.  Developing strong public-private partnerships to foster voluntary, risk-based approaches to data security and operations management, the development of industry-driven consensus on data management best practices and security standards that ensure critical mission information is accessed by authorized parties, and the development of industry-driven consensus security standards.
  11.  Ensuring UAS have access to spectrum to conduct operations, including the use of command-and-control technologies at higher altitudes, use of detect-and-avoid systems, ability to transmit payload data, and to conduct operations that ultimately strengthen the operation of UAS in the NAS. AUVSI continues to look for regulatory efforts we can comment on, after filing comments to the FCC’s recent C-Band Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
  12.  Opening markets, reducing barriers and regulations, and injecting more certainty and predictability into the marketplace, trade, and investment agreements, which are key catalysts for the innovation progress that drive our global economies and markets.
  13.  Promoting technology transfer and international harmonization of standards to realize the full potential benefits of UAS.

For more information about the specific priorities the AAC is pushing in FAA Reauthorization, click here.

To download the entire AAC overview document, click here.

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