Budget Request Supports Unmanned Research, Procurement
Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, left, and Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. discuss the fiscal year 2016 budget request at a news conference held today. Photo: DOD / Glenn Fawcett.
The 2016 fiscal year budget request by President Barack Obama aims to directly funnel money into the research and staffing needed to give unmanned aircraft a spot in the national airspace.
Under the U.S. Department of Transportation budget, the Federal Aviation Administration’s portion of the request asks for $9.6 million to support research on UAS technology in the National Airspace System. It also includes a line item for $45 million for continued implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast, or ADS-B, to improve satellite capabilities. Many in the unmanned community are looking to that technology to help provide the sense-and avoid capability manned aircraft currently fulfill through a pilot performing see-and-avoid measures.
“As detailed in the UAS Roadmap for Integration and the interagency UAS Integration Comprehensive Plan, FAA’s FY 2016 research will be focused on detecting and avoiding, control and communications, systems safety criteria, modeling and simulation requirements and research that will support the safe, efficient, and timely integration of UAS in the NAS,” states the document.
The FAA’s request also includes $21.3 million to hire additional safety inspectors and engineers for surveillance and certification services, which includes support for implementation of procedures and training surrounding UAS. The FAA’s total $15.8 billion request includes an investment in NextGen, the agency’s new air transportation system plan under which UAS integration will occur.
“It is a responsible and necessary investment in critical capital infrastructure and the ongoing deployment of NextGen technologies,” says the statement. “This allows FAA to safely integrate new entrants such as unmanned vehicles and increasing numbers of commercial space launches into the NAS.”
The 2016 Department of Defense budget request highlights the need for investments in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. General Atomics’ RQ-9 Reapers, which provide that capability abroad, garnered $821 million.
The Navy will get $55 million toward improving the littoral combat ship’s capabilities, which will house autonomous vehicles onboard. The Navy is also requesting three Northrop MQ-4 Tritons and two MQ-8C Fire Scouts. The Navy also has $135 million for the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike, or UCLASS, program, which was budgeted last year at a much higher $403 million.
The Marine Corps are requesting seven RQ-21A Blackjack UAS, marketed commercially by Boeing and Insitu as Integrator, for the Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System program.
The budget requests $146 billion for research and development overall, up 5.5 percent from last year. It includes $612 million in discretionary funds for national defense, up $26 billion from 2015.
The DOD budget request also includes $12 billion in science and technology investments, for areas such as autonomy, synthetic biology and cybersecurity, among other areas.
In other sectors of the budget, NASA is requesting $571 million in aeronautics research, and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is allocating $7.1 million for research on advanced and emerging technologies.
The president’s request includes $3 billion for science, technology, engineering and math initiatives for students.
