Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to create a regulatory regime for large drones flying in the UK operated by (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) other Government agencies and (c) other operators.

The Military Aviation Authority (MAA) is responsible for the regulation of all military Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) (which are divided into categories); the relevant Regulatory Articles (RAs) can be found on www.gov.uk and mandate that all RPAS contained on the UK Military Aircraft Register must be operated in a manner that minimizes the risk and hazards to other airspace users, ground crew and persons over which RPAS are flown.

As the operation of larger RPAS in the Certified Category presents Risk to Life similar to that of crewed aviation, these RPAS are subject to the same regulatory regime as crewed aviation.

The MAA is working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) (who are responsible for the regulation of non-military RPAS) to ensure coherency and further develop policy and regulation that will meet the requirements of future RPAS/Unmanned Air System (UAS) operations in the UK to ensure that large RPAS/UAS are safe to operate and operated safely.

Further information on Categorization can be found in Regulatory Article (RA) 1600 - Remotely Piloted Air Systems. The RAs specific to RPAS can be found within the RA 1600 Series and RA 2000 Series.