Drone Strikes 101: FAA's Domestic Drones Initiative; Is All Southern Cal a Testing Area?

Even as politicians across the land debate the legal and ethical questions surrounding the use of unmanned surveillance aircraft in domestic airspace, dozens of groups from throughout the country are vying for spots in Congress' new unmanned aircraft initiative.

Through the National Defense Authorization Act and the 2012 FAA Reauthorization legislation, Congress has mandated unmanned aircraft, otherwise known as drones, will be clear to fly through domestic airspace by 2015.

As part of that effort, the Federal Aviation Administration has been charged with establishing six drone test sites --- the locations of which will be announced in December, after the agency reviews the proposals submitted by 50 community organizations from 37 states.

Wherever the sites end up, they promise an economic boon for the communities around them.

A recent study by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Services International predicts that after automated drones are integrated into the national airspace system, the industry UV industry will generate more than $13.6 billion during the first three years of integration and up to an estimated $82.1 billion during the first 10 years

As well, 70,000 new jobs, including 34,000 manufacturing jobs, will be created in the first three years, reaching upwards to 104,000 new jobs by 2025.

Over the first 11 years of system integration, industry revenues would generate an estimated $482 million in collected taxes, the AUVSI data shows.

So, with the nation's economic downturn still in the rearview mirrors of many communities, it's understandable how landing a drone testing base could create so much enthusiasm --- and contentiousness.

Two of the nation's high-profile aerospace states, Florida and Texas, have managed to corral their respective resources into coordinated attempts to earn nods from the FAA.

But the relationship has grown so strained between the two competing groups in California, state Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace, has publicly announced "a unified effort would be in California's best interest," and even the governor has been asked to step in and try to join the teams together.

One of the contenders, the Southern California Unmanned Systems Alliance, comes from Ventura County, which flanks the northern coastal border of Los Angeles County, and is a largely rural area that nonetheless is home to Naval Base Ventura County, which already has a mission history with the military's unmanned drone programs.

The base, which includes the Air National Guard Station on the nearby Channel Islands, has thrown its support behind the FAA lobbying efforts spearheaded by Ventura County, the Ventura County Economic Development Agency and other key county officials.

On the other hand is a coalition led by the San Diego Military Advisory Council and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, which, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, has asked the FAA to designate a drone testing range that would span an enormous swath of sky --- essentially covering all Southern California.

The proposed test area would extend from Naval Air Station China Lake and Edwards Air Force Base west to the ocean, south to the Mexican border and east to the Arizona line.

Bill Buratto, CEO of the Ventura County Economic Development Agency, told the Ventura County Star his group tried to collaborate with the group to the east, but backed out of a proposed merger after determining the others didn't have the organization necessary to prevail.

Meanwhile, supporters of the more politically-powerful eastern group have suggested Buratto's efforts are folly, since the Ventura group doesn't have nearly enough political pull to gain the FAA's favor.

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a policy statement that reads in part: "Unmanned aircraft carrying cameras raise the prospect of a significant new avenue for the surveillance of American life.

"We need a system of rules to ensure that Americans can enjoy the benefits of this technology without bringing our country a large step closer to a 'surveillance society.'"