Feds to set up UAS test airspace

The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration plan to carve out between four and 10 "bubbles" in civilian airspace to test unmanned aerial systems, said Steve Pennington, executive director of the Defense Policy Board on Federal Aviation. They'll provide DoD and the FAA space to show that unmanned systems can fly in heavily-traveled commercial airspace in all conditions. The sites will not be co-located with existing DoD sites that have been cleared to fly UAS in the United States, but the new airspace sites will likely butt up against those DoD-owned sites. DoD will begin preliminary site selection by the end of 2012, Pennington said. (Source: AOL, 08/18/11) Gulf Coast notes: South Mississippi has two locations cleared for unmanned flights, and unmanned systems are also tested at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.