On 15 April 2026, the Oregon Division of Aviation submitted feedback to the Federal Communications Fee relating to its public discover on ‘Unleashing American Drone Dominance’. The division views this continuing as a sensible alternative to enhance the communications and regulatory framework essential to help real-world uncrewed plane methods (UAS). For states equivalent to Oregon, the first purpose is a regulatory surroundings that allows trusted operators to conduct protected, repeatable and scalable operations the place they’ll ship the best public profit, equivalent to wildfire detection, search and rescue, and medical supply.
Modernising experimental licensing – The division helps substantial reform of the FCC’s Half 5 experimental licensing framework. The present system was not designed for the dimensions and complexity of recent UAS operations and is commonly too gradual and geographically slim for efficient testing.
To handle this, the fee ought to create a UAS-specific experimental licence pathway that permits broader geographic authority, longer phrases and multi-band testing underneath a single authorisation. The division additionally recommends the better use of blanket authorisations for certified entities working in outlined corridors. Testing should consider how methods carry out throughout actual terrain, various elevations and altering climate patterns, relatively than being confined to single flat websites or small educational footprints.
Rural and mountainous innovation zones – A key advice is the institution of further innovation zones and testbeds in sparsely populated and mountainous environments. The division has recognized three potential areas for this: the Cascades close to Oakridge, the Columbia River Gorge and southeast Oregon.
These distant places are very important as a result of the environments that matter most for emergency logistics and wildfire response aren’t city college corridors. Quite, they’re mountain passes, river corridors and communities with restricted transportation alternate options the place communications resilience and route continuity turn out to be decisive elements. The FCC ought to coordinate with different federal businesses to allow corridor-based testing that displays these actual working environments.
Spectrum entry and coordination – Reliance on unlicensed spectrum alone is inadequate for safety-critical operations, as these bands are inclined to interference. The FCC should speed up sensible entry to dependable spectrum, particularly prioritising the implementation of the 5030-5091 MHz band for UAS management hyperlinks.
Moreover, the FCC should modernise its coordination necessities to cut back procedural friction. Legacy coordination constructions had been developed for static makes use of and infrequently trigger delays and duplicative critiques for route-based aerial operations. The coordination course of must be rigorous the place wanted, but additionally predictable, well timed and proportional to danger.
Nationwide safety and public service – Acknowledging nationwide safety issues relating to foreign-produced UAS, the division notes that public entities want confidence that their methods don’t create unacceptable dangers. Nevertheless, the FCC should protect the continuity of public-service operations by offering a workable transition pathway, together with a easy, risk-appropriate waiver course of.
To assist navigate this advanced regulatory panorama, the FCC ought to set up a centralised data useful resource for UAS and counter-UAS operators. This useful resource ought to present plain-language explanations of licensing pathways, tools and supply-chain concerns, and nationwide safety necessities. Clarification can be wanted to make sure that counter-UAS testing for air area consciousness—equivalent to detection and monitoring—shouldn’t be conflated with mitigation authority.
In the end, the central query for the way forward for uncrewed aviation is whether or not the federal framework will allow operations in environments the place they supply the most effective return on funding. Because the director of the Oregon Division of Aviation, Kenji Sugahara, concluded, rural terrain, wildfire-prone areas and medically underserved communities must be central to federal spectrum coverage.
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