ICARUS coordinator RMA hosts the RPAS 2013 conference, where the RPAS roadmap was introduced by representatives of the European Commission

Photographic Review of RPAS2013 In the context of the ICARUS project, an EU initiative which aims to develop robotic tools to assist human crisis intervention teams, the Royal Military Academy of Belgium (RMA), which coordinates the project, hosted the RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) 2013 conference.

This conference, celebrated for the 15th consecutive year and organised by the Royal Military Academy on its premises in Brussels, is the Annual Conference and Exhibition in Europe for the remotely piloted aircraft systems' global community.

This international conference brings annually together policy-makers, industry representatives, academics and users in the field of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems.

Peter van Blyenburg, founder of UVS International and organiser of the conference, handed over the RPAS Roadmap to the European Commission on behalf of the European RPAS Steering Group in June this year.

Jean Pierre Lentz and Koen de Vos, representatives from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry and Directorate General for Mobility and Transport, respectively, presented the 'roadmap for the integration of civil Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems into the European Aviation System' and explained its objectives and implementation methodology. This was the first time that the document had been presented to the industry, operators and regulators.

Jean Pierre Lentz, DG Enterprise and Industry presenting the Roadmap

Koen de Vos, DG Mobilty and Transport presenting the Roadmap

This RPAS roadmap, which was handed over to the European Commission on the 20th of June 2013, has been prepared by the ‘European RPAS Steering Group’ (ERSG), a group of stakeholders representing the main organisations and experts interested in the integration of RPAS into the European aviation system.

The ways of integrating RPAS into not only military but also civil applications for the benefit of European citizens and businesses were featured and presented in a number of different ways throughout the course of the conference. Michel van Strythem, from the Belgian Ministry of Defence described the Belgian Experience of mutualised RPAS Operations to the audience.

The four documents that constitute the European RPAS Roadmap are now available here:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/aerospace/uas/index_en.htm

Credits (pictures): Royal Military Academy, UVS International

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