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31.05.2016 Opinion

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Into Ghana’s Airspace:  A Technological Force Multiplier Or Trojan Horse?

By Odadie Kwasi Okatakyie Adjekum
Integrating Unmanned Aircraft System UAS Into Ghanas Airspace: A Technological Force Multiplier Or Trojan Horse?
31.05.2016 LISTEN

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Into Ghana’s Airspace: A Technological Force Multiplier Or Trojan Horse?

An unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is an aircraft without a human pilot on board, it is a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). Because UAS are not burdened with the physiological limitations of human pilots, they can be designed for maximized on-station times. UAS come in a variety of shapes and sizes and serve different purposes.

These aircraft can be deployed in a number of different terrains and may be less dependent on prepared runways. In addition to its military application, expectations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) run high within the general aviation and commercial industries . Technological innovation and increasingly diverse applications are two key drivers of the rapid expansion of UAS technology [ii] .

UAS is a promising new tool for improved project design and implementation world-wide. Agriculture, meteorology, conservation and border control are just a few of the diverse areas in which UAS are making a significant impact.

Unmanned aircraft systems can be used to perform a variety of military and civilian functions, including social surveys, epidemiological/disease monitoring, environmental exposure monitoring, agricultural research and crop monitoring, 3-D mapping, scientific research, and search and rescue missions (SAR).

Opportunities – Force Multiplier?

As with any emerging technology, the potential economic benefits could be tremendous. AUVSI’s findings suggest that in the first three years of UAS integration, more than 70,000 jobs will be created in the United States with an economic impact of more than $13.6 billion. This benefit will grow through 2025, with a forecasted 100,000 jobs being created and economic impact of $82 billion. Presently, France, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. are among the world’s most progressive countries when it comes to introducing UAS technologies in their airspace.

In Africa, South Africa has set the pace internationally on the development of commercial UAS, by enacting progressive legislation and training certification for UAS pilots. Others such as Kenya, has recently banned UAS for civilian use, citing national security concerns. The new Kenyan ordinance advises UAS operators to seek permission from the Ministry of Defence to operate any form of UAS.

By restricting drone use, African countries exclude themselves from a fast-growing industry and they miss out on opportunities to use the technology for social good. Even though presently China is the biggest commercial UAS manufacturer and the U.S. the biggest UAS consumer in the world, it is envisaged that Africa will be the biggest commercial UAS operator and consumer within the next few years. A lot of emerging investors have their eyes are on Africa, to tap into the great potential for a UAS market due to its relatively low-technology use and inexpensive assembly.

Africa is expected to be the first continent where UAS cargo routes will be dominant. Google has just acquired about 15 UAS companies as it looks to roll out Wi-Fi in Africa. Google will need high-endurance UAS moving around the continent to ensure optimized coverage and accessibility through the use of their solar-powered UAS’s delivering internet connectivity, land-based and airborne autonomy, low-level UAS package delivery, and swarm technologies.

Another Silicon Valley startup, Zipline plans to begin using unmanned aircraft to deliver blood for transfusions in Rwanda in July 2016, with a fleet of 15-20 UAS making up to 150 flights a day to rural health centers in the western half of the Country [iii] . Nigeria has been using UAS for surveillance and intelligence gathering in their aggressive fight against the Boko-Haram militants.

In Ghana, UAS will be very beneficial in many areas of our national development. UAS will allow the Crop Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture to assist farmers in farm surveys for weeds and pest control. UAS can assist in effective emergency relief services provided by the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), through safe and cost-effective assessment of high- risk natural disasters such as flooding, wildfire and invasion by insects such as swarm of bees where it might be very dangerous to get humans to make preliminary damage assessments.

In journalism, the UAS can provide a low-cost alternative to aerial imaging, and opens up amazing possibilities in real-time reportage. In law enforcement, UAS can be used as aerial observation platform by the Ghana Police Service to enable on-site crowd control commanders manage fluid situations. UAS can be used effectively in high speed pursuit of criminals such as armed robbers as compared to the risk of using police vehicles and the attendant risk of car crash and running into pedestrians.

In maritime operations, UAS can be used in fisheries surveillance by the Ghana Navy to monitor and apprehend saboteurs engaged in illegal fishing activities in the maritime exclusive zone. UAS can also provide additional surveillance over oil pipelines from the Tano and allied western oil fields. Finally, UAS can be used in anti-piracy monitoring by locating ships and mapping positions of ships/vessels in distress, while the Ghana Navy moves in to provide assistance.

There has been the perennial challenge of getting essential vaccines and drugs to some remote areas in Ghana due to non-navigable water-bodies and un-motorable roads and that may be an area where UAS may suffice. The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative, a national policy promulgated encouraging District Health Management Teams throughout Ghana to take steps toward instituting community based health care, could benefit tremendously from the use of UAS in the distribution of drugs, vaccines, tissue and blood samples and health educational materials [iv] .

The dramatic increase in forest destruction, illegal mining and wildlife poaching has encouraged wildlife scientists and conservationists to explore the potential for using UAS in surveillance and anti-poaching activities in many African countries. For many years, the conservation in Africa and Ghana in particular has lagged behind other sectors technologically.

The focus has been more on reactionary measures such as devoting tight budgets to immediate needs like putting boots and vehicles on the ground to go after poachers, while proactive conservation tools such as UAS has been relegated to the back-burners, even though they may be cost –effective in improving wildlife management.

UAS for research and management activities such as surveying, monitoring, and mapping habitat and wildlife can use simple Remote-Controlled (RC) platforms, carry simple modular payloads, and have short range (< 3 km) and endurance (< 60 minutes, less for multi-copter drones). Such UAS may have payloads that are typically cameras and other sensors.

On the other hand, UAS for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) conservation missions, such as anti-poaching and protection, will however require better reliability, durability, and performance, including carrying multiple, higher-quality payloads, providing real-time data, and having longer range and endurance. The mission characteristics will also vary by location, depending on the geographical and environmental conditions, local regulations, and manpower [v] .

Challenges- The Trojan Horses?
One of the biggest challenge in UAS integration has been the issue of controlling the UAS hobbyists and amateurs who use off-the-shelf UAVs, or home- built UAS, and operate them for their personal activities. In Ghana, there seems to be a proliferation of such activities. Most of these hobbyist may even be ignorant of the threats and risk to civil aviation as well as privacy and national security issues. They fly these UAS, to video-capture weddings, funerals and social /entertainment functions. These “drones” are normally the simplest unmanned systems providing limited data and performance. An example of this small UAS is the quadcopter UAS, such as DJI’s Phantom. Another threat has been unauthorized use of these UAS in restricted airspace and areas beyond line of sight of the operator. These actions can potentially threaten the safety of aircraft in the national airspace and create security concerns by operating near sensitive locations.

The potential for nefarious use of this technology is unsettling and has become a major safety and security concern. The chronic national security concerns of abuse by reactionary elements who may operate it for both terrorism-related activities and other forms of sabotage. There may have to be some legislation to ensure that citizenship privacy will be respected in the use of UAS by the media, who may want to use it, for journalistic activities, since UAS, if not properly controlled through effective legislation, can be easily used to encroach on the privacy of individuals.

Another challenge in the UAS integration is the issue of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations and operation over populated areas. This is still both operationally and technically challenging with a number of outstanding issues, including a lack of agreement on performance standards for Detect and Avoid and Command links, the level of technical integrity UAS will need to demonstrate, how these platforms will be certified, what the equipage expectations will be and what the training expectations for UAS pilots will be [vi] .

For most African countries, such as Ghana, a major challenge will be the initial cost of integrating UAS technology for civil use. At the governmental levels, the cost will be in terms of acquisition of the systems, training, system support and payment of proprietary rights for specific software’s and tools for functionality. According to the US Air Force, a Predator B UAS unit cost about $4.026 million and may cost on the average $859/flight hour while the Reaper UAS will be around $1,456/flight hour as compared to a manned Blackhawk helicopter, which may cost $5,897/flight hour and a C-12 at $1,370/flight hour [vii] . These aircraft are similar to those used for border security, law enforcement and emergency response.

The Bell Jet Ranger helicopter, typically used for traffic or news reporting, costs $700K - $1.2 million and $649/flight hour to operate, while the Robinson R-44 Raven II, a two-person helicopter, costs $434,000 and operates at $206/flight hour (manufacturer’s estimate) as compared to the Raven UAS at $250K - $439K for the entire system and Octatron Skyseer UAS at between $35,000 and a DOC of about $ 100/hour. The direct operating costs (DOC) may also include such items as maintenance, fuel and lubricants. However, these costs are dependent upon hours flown. To this may be added hanger, maintenance and personnel costs (direct and indirect) including operators, mechanics and administrators of the program. Some cost estimates may include depreciation and the present value of the costs per contract divided by the average contract length in order to estimate total operational costs [viii] .

Future Direction – Regulatory Framework?

In terms of regulatory framework on UAS, it looks like some African countries are far ahead and Ghana can emulate their example. In Ghana, eventually, it will fall within the purview of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to regulate and ensure compliance with any legislation on UAS. Some African countries are interested in getting their own UAS legislation in place and South Africa is expected to be the hub that drives this surge. South Africa and Rwanda are about the most proactive and progressive in terms of UAS integrations and regulations on the continent. Ghana can evolve some level of regulations based on these benchmarks below that seems to be universally accepted.

An enhanced framework can restrict UAS operations, especially for civil use to a take-off weight not exceeding 25 kilograms, limit the operations of unmanned aircraft to visual line of sight (VLOS) operations (i.e., the lateral distance between the unmanned aircraft and the remote pilot must not be more than 300 metres), prohibit flying an unmanned aircraft at a speed exceeding 87 knots (100 miles/hour), prohibit operators from flying or operating an unmanned aircraft above an altitude of 150 metres, prohibit an unmanned aircraft from flying over people or congested areas unless a permit is issued.

Other bench-marks could be prohibiting operators from flying or operating an unmanned aircraft within 10 km of an aerodrome regardless of height, unless authorized to do so, prohibiting UAS from overflying or taking photographs of restricted/prohibited areas, prohibiting night operations of UAS, requiring UAS operators/pilots to obtain a permit to fly or operate UAS, require operators of UAS to subscribe for liability insurance and finally provide the necessary enforcement powers to the GCAA and other law-enforcement agencies to deter malicious or reckless UAS activities which may threaten public safety and security. The recent menace by itinerant Fulani herdsmen and the security risk they pose, could be easily be assessed using UAS to mount surveillance on the activities of these high –risk elements.

In general, if the safety risk to security personnel and operators of these UAS are considered in terms of their proximity to specific hazards coupled with the present net value of investment and future returns on investment, then it may be prudent for Ghana to invest in UAS. A recommendation, could be a partnership with either a local or international private sector contractor/institution of higher learning with the capacity and experience in UAS operations to provide services on a build-operate-train –transfer (BOTT) basis over a span of time.

Finally, a multi-sectoral UAS integration task force comprising the University of Ghana (Geospatial/Remote –Sensing Department), KNUST Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ghana Airforce, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Ghana Navy, Ministry of Interior, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Forestry Commission, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Science, and the Ghana Chamber of Mines can team up to draft a policy framework for integrating UAS into Ghana’s airspace.

Odadie Kwasi Okatakyie Adjekum
Aviation Consultant/ Ph.D. Candidate – University of North Dakota School of Aerospace Sciences. USA

[email protected]



Source:
http://www.airneth.nl/news/details/article/unmanned-aerial-systems-uas-prospects-challenges-and-opportunities/

[ii] Austin, R. (2010) Future Prospects and Challenges, in Unmanned Aircraft Systems: UAVS Design, Development and Deployment, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9780470664797.ch27

[iii] http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/zipline-deliver-blood-uas-rwanda

[iv] pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACT263.pdf
[v] https://fas.org/irp/program/collect/service.pdf

[vi] https://fas.org/irp/program/collect/service.pdf

[vii] ( http://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100128-072.pdf )

[viii] http://www.auvsi.org/hamptonroads/blogs/chris-mailey/2013/10/24/are-uas-more-cost-effective-than-manned-flights

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