Context:
The study on UAVs recommended to acquire 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs and 155 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs.
About Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV):
- An aircraft that operates without a human pilot on-board.
- Modes of operation – Human operator or pre-programmed systems or AI.
- Commonly known as “drones.”
- Types – Fixed-Wing, Multi-Rotor, VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing), Nano/Micro, High Altitude, Swarm etc.
- Regulated by – Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
- Applications – Defence, Agriculture, Surveying & Mapping, Communications & Networking, Research, Delivery & logistics, Photography etc.
Provisions of the Drone Rules, 2021:
- Reduction in the number of forms for operating drones from 25 to 5.
- Abolition of Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP), Remote Pilot License.
- Liberalised “No Permission, No Take-off” (NPNT) mandate.
- Maximum altitude for drone operations – 400 feet
- Regulation of Import of drones – Directorate General of Foreign Trade
- Safety and No-Fly Zones –
- Drones cannot be flown in specified no-fly zones such as over the perimeter of strategic locations, military installations, and from the international border unless permitted.
- Yellow zones (controlled airspace) have been reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
- Digital Sky Platform –
- An interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the Digital Sky Platform.
- Type Certificate –
- Required only when a drone is to be operated in India.
- Nano and model drones (made for research or recreation purposes) are exempt from type certification.
No person shall carry dangerous goods on unmanned aircraft unless such operation is in compliance with the Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2003.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
Consider the following activities:
1. Spraying pesticides on a crop field.
2. Inspecting the craters of active volcanoes.
3. Collecting breath samples from spouting whales for DNA analysis.
At the present level of technology, which of the above activities can be successfully carried out by using drones?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2020 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
