Drones Have a Role


The growing capabilities of unmanned aerial systems/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS/UAV aka drones) has been widely noticed by the LE aviation community. “In fact, we’ve seen a number of drones come into play during the pandemic in LE roles, not least of which is because drones are less expensive to operate and maintain than manned helicopters,” said APSA’s Schwarzbach. “This economical technology is being more and more accepted for police surveillance missions.”


A case in point is in Leon County, Florida. “Our agency recently stood up a UAS program,” Capt. Majors said. “While it doesn’t fall under the control of the aviation division, we do work closely with the UAS pilots from our agency and other area agencies on a regular basis. I find with the right mindset, the two technologies complement each other rather than compete.”


It is this notion of competition that concerns Richard Bray. “I expect a lot more drone units and a lot less manned units in the next 20 years,” said Bray, whose own aviation unit does not use drones. “Manned units will probably be used for more specialized applications, which will be somewhat of a reversal of what is happening today.”


This said, drones are not necessarily job killers. For one thing, they still have to be flown by humans (albeit not helicopter-rated pilots). For another, drones will open up aviation to LE departments currently unable to justify crewed helicopters to their funding agencies. This was certainly the case with the first helicopter air


72 May/June 2021


ambulances, whose lifesaving success blazed the way for other AEMS units around the world. So drones could open up more helicopter jobs for pilots.


“Because human involvement will always be required, drones should not be considered a disrupter,” Rousseau said. “Instead, they’re more likely to be an additional support tool.” He foresees a future where manned helicopters teamed with unmanned UAVs (Manned/Unmanned Teaming aka MUMT) will conduct complex missions more effectively than either platform on its own.


“At the end of the day, the drone and the helicopter are complementary rather than competitors,” Rousseau said. “More and more combined missions will be performed with the two vectors, and in the near future we could imagine a helicopter capable of coordinating a swarm of drones in flight.”


The bottom line: despite all that has happened to the world during COVID-19, LE enforcement aviation technology has not suffered as a whole. Significant advances have been made and will continue to be made, no matter what happens next during the pandemic crisis. This is why LE pilots and managers need to keep an eye out for innovative new onboard equipment as well as new helicopter and drone platforms. The future is flying without delay!


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