Europe to Open Its Skies to Drones

Drone Wars UK

In an obscure working document, the European Commission has announced it is working on plans to open European civil airspace to unmanned drones by 2016.  This follows the signing by President Obama earlier this year of the FAA Appropriations bill which mandated that US airspace must be opened to drones by 2015.

The European Commission (EC) plan was revealed in a Staff Working Paper published on September 4th 2012 entitled  “Towards a European strategy for the development of civil applications of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems”.

The document  summaries the conclusions of the year-long European Unmanned Air Systems Panel which began meeting in July 2011and recommends setting up a European RPAS [Remotely Piloted Air Systems] Steering Group (ERSG).  The aim of the ERSG, writes Peter van Blyenburgh, President of UVS International, (the main European drone lobby group) on the UAVS Vision websiteis to “foster the development of civil RPAS by planning and coordinating all the activities necessary to achieve the safe and incremental integration of RPAS into European air traffic by 2016″.

Surprisingly – or not depending on your view of the inner workings of the EC – membership of the ERSG has already been decided and it has already met to begin its work before its existence was announced.  The group is co-chaired by the EC’s Directorate-General Enterprise & Industry and Directorate-General Mobility & Transport.  Other members include representatives of other EC directorates plus what it calls a whole range of “stakeholders”.  These include industry bodies including UVS International, the main drone lobby group.

The ERSG has established three working groups and is planning to publish by December 2012 a “comprehensive roadmap” towards the integration of civil drones into European airspace by 2016.

More New Documents Show TSA Intends To Deploy Body Scanners At Rail, Bus, Ferry Terminals

This Is What A US Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Could Look Like

Robert Johnson
Business Insider

Washington D.C. foreign policy think tank the Center For Strategic & International Studies took a long hard look at what it really means to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions, what it would take, and what it could lead to in a report released yesterday.

The speculation that Israel can go it alone against Tehran remains, but the specifics of what’s required by a US attack to put the nuclear program in the dust is outlined in detail. At least 16 F-18s, and 10 B-2 bombers carrying 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, would initially be required by US forces.

Iran’s retaliation would be another story entirely with a massive incoming missile salvo directed about the entire region. When that happens a full Ballistic Missile War could ensue with untold US space, air, sea, and land elements coming into play.

Some illustrations of the possible outcomes are below.

American, United Face Trial Over 9-11 Towers Destruction

Patricia Hurtado
Bloomberg Businessweek

AMR Corp.’s (AAMRQ) American Airlines and United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) lost a bid to avoid a federal trial over negligence claims tied to the hijacking of jetliners used in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed about 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

On the day of the attacks, two planes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.

After the attacks, the owners sued insurers, eventually settling for $4.09 billion, the judge said. World Trade Center Properties sued the airlines seeking $8.4 billion, or the estimated cost of replacing the two towers as well as claims of negligence, the judge said in yesterday’s ruling. Hellerstein said he previously rejected the airlines’ bid for summary judgment, or a ruling before trial.

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