Unmanned aerial vehicles of the Australian military are to operate in the country's civil airspace for the first time starting later this month.
Israel Aerospace Industries, maker of the Royal Australian Air Force's two Heron remotely piloted aircraft, said the UAV's integration into civilian airspace comes through a memorandum of agreement between the RAAF and Airservices Australia, a government entity responsible for civil airspace.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority will also work with Airservices and Air Force to monitor the arrangements from a civil aviation safety perspective.
"The purpose of the MoA is to set out procedures for Airservices Australia and Air Force to work within, and allows the Heron to be safely flown in civil airspace without any significant impact on civil air traffic," said Air Commodore Chris Westwood, commander of the RAAF's Surveillance and Response Group.
"The MoA aids both Airservices and Air Force by facilitating the initial operation and integration of remotely piloted aircraft into civil airspace, based on Air Force's mature and thorough airworthiness and aviation safety system."
The RAAF plans to fly the aircraft in civilian airspace as part of a military exercise.
