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1 [1] (October 25, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govercm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogrsioa Resarc Servic October 25, 2024 Defense Primer: Categories of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Background The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) develops, acquires, and fields uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS, commonly known as drones) of varying sizes and capabilities. DOD has organized uncrewed-DOD uses the terms uncrewed and unmanned interchangeably-aircraft into different categories of aircraft to facilitate a common understanding of UAS within DOD and the integration of military UAS into the National Airspace System, and to communicate its UAS requirements to Congress. Congress may consider whether DOD's UAS categories remain a useful basis for its oversight of DOD's stated requirements and objectives for UAS programs. DOD UAS Categories DOD's Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms and Joint Publication JP 3-30 Joint Air Operations define an unmanned aircraft (UA)-also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-as an aircraft that does not carry a human operator and is capable of flight with or without human remote control. A UAS is defined as a system that includes the necessary equipment, network, and personnel to control an unmanned aircraft. These definitions have not remained static over time, nor are they entirely consistent with those used by other federal agencies. The Department of Transportation, for example, draws its definition of an uncrewed aircraft from Title 49, Section 44801, of the United States Code, in which an unmanned aircraft is defined as an aircraft operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. The term unmanned aircraft superseded other nomenclatures, namely remotely piloted vehicle (RPV), that were predominant in DOD parlance in the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1988, when the now-deactivated DOD Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Joint Program Office published-at the direction of Congress (see P.L. 100-202)-DOD's first master plan for uncrewed aircraft, DOD has sought to consolidate various military service-specific approaches to categorizing drones. While DOD initially adopted a method that focused on the mission profile of the UAS-close- range, medium-range, strategic etc.-in successive versions DOD placed greater emphasis on the physical and operational parameters of the aircraft, such as the aircraft's weight and airspeed. In 2007, the then-Joint UAS Center of Excellence (JUAS COE) proposed DOD expand its classification scheme for UAS from what was previously three classes to five groups of aircraft. The following year, DOD adopted an amended version of the approach based on the five aircraft groups, which was subsequently released in the FY2009-FY2034 Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap, a congressionally mandated report (see P.L. 106-398, §220). DOD continues to use the five-group approach to categorizing UAS developed in 2007-2008, today known as the UAS Categorization Chart and published in JP 3-30 Joint Air Operations (see Figure 1). DOD's UAS categories range from Group 1 to Group 5 and are defined according to certain attributes-the aircraft's maximum gross takeoff weight, operating altitude, and speed. DOD's selection of attributes such as weight and operating altitude, as well as its selection of the dividing lines between categories, was designed in part to help facilitate the integration of military drones into the National Airspace Systemby aligning DOD's approach with that of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For example, DOD uses 55 pounds as the upper limit of Group 2, the same figure the FAA in 14 C.F.R. Part 1 defines as the maximum takeoff weight for a small UAS. Figure I. DOD UAS Classification Unmanned A rcraft Systems Categorization Chart Legend AGL bho- ground 1-1e FASS tobe preuon iais urvei ancesystemn ft etZ KIAS knots-ndcatned arspeed kis knots T MAV t = . ami arvehic UA unmanned aircraft UAS unmanned aircraft system Source: DODJP 3-30. Globally, a variety of civil and military classification schemes exist for drones, elements of which may or may not align withDOD's UAS categories. For example, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) classification guide, first presented in 2009, divides UAS into three classes-Class I, II, and Ill-from which Class I and Class III are subdivided into groups. NATO's Class I is subdivided into three groups-micro, mini, and small-of varying size, while Class III is subdivided into groups based on the mission of the aircraft. Other classification schemes for UAS may choose to emphasize metrics such as the aircraft's level of automation or operating range. r)s:/orsreportsconqress.

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