New Task Force on Unmanned Systems Established

Photo credit: Al Plueddemann

Under the Interagency Working Group on Facilities and Infrastructure (IWG-FI), a Task Force on Unmanned Systems (TFUS) was formed in December 2009.

This task force will advise the IWG-FI on policies, procedures and plans relating to unmanned uses, upgrades and investments. The scope of TFUS includes: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) and Lagrangian Platforms. The three co-chairs are Reginald Beach (NOAA), Kim Curry (Oceanographer of the Navy) and Brenda Mulac (NASA).  Several priority issues were identified for TFUS to focus on during 2010:

  • Unmanned Systems in other countries’ Excluse Economic Zone (EEZ) / Airspace
  • Collision Avoidance Liability
  • Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean and Air-Sea Interface modeling
  • Centrally Managed Platforms for UASs
  • Community Workshop: Development of UAS Strategy / Implementation Scenarios for Common Lifecycle Infrastructure

To view the TFUS Terms of Reference, please visit: Task Force_on_Unmanned_Systems.