President Donald J. Trump has signed an Executive Order (EO) his administration claims will “ensure continued American leadership in the development, commercialization and export of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)”.
The order mentions precision agriculture as one of several industries where drones are “enhancing U.S. productivity, creating high-skilled jobs and reshaping the future of aviation.”
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Two areas of emphasis within the EO itself will have direct benefits to many farm drone use-cases:
- The expansion of approved autonomous Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.
- A new electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) integration pilot program.
By directing the FAA to continue on its current trajectory of streamlining the approval of autonomous BVLOS flights in areas where public safety is not at risk (i.e. in unrestricted Class G airspace), crop scouting and spray drones will be able to cover more acres in a more efficient manner.
And establishing a pilot program to further the advancement of eVTOLs is good news for many emerging spray drone technologies like Guardian.ag’s SC1, which is now FAA-approved and field testing with growers in Salinas, Calif., this summer.
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The order also directs the FAA administrator to deploy artificial intelligence tools to streamline and expedite UAS waiver reviews, meaning farm users with all the licensing and approval ducks-in-a-row will be approved faster for time-critical missions like in-season insecticide and fungicide applications.
Many in the drone industry expected an outright ban of Chinese and foreign drone technology in the U.S., but that does not appear to be the case with this EO. The order does instruct federal agencies using drones to “prioritize U.S.-manufactured UAS” and to “secure our supply chains and promote American leadership in production, certification and export.”
Domestic Drone Maker Reacts
Hylio is an American spray drone manufacturer based in Richmond, Texas. The company is building a new 40,000 square foot facility that CEO Arthur Erickson says will increase its drone production capacity by about 500%.
Erickson gave the following statement to Farm Journal after Trump’s EO was announced:
“Since 2015, Hylio has been on the front lines of the drone industry, fighting an uphill battle as one of the few US-based drone manufacturers. Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed Chinese companies employ increasingly aggressive, non-competitive practices, such as price dumping and strategic subsidizing, in an attempt to monopolize the market and eliminate American competition.
“We believe American self-reliance in drone manufacturing and component sourcing is an existential necessity; drone technology has proven to be incredibly important in private industry as well as civil and military government sectors. The executive orders issued by the Trump administration, which promote US manufacturers like Hylio while simultaneously curbing the anti-competitive practices of Chinese manufacturers, are a powerful step toward establishing a robust and secure American drone industrial base in the near future. We fully support the administration’s efforts and applaud them for their decisive action.”
To learn more about the EO, check out this fact sheet from the White House or dig deep and read the full EO, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance”, here.
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