The Ministry of Transport has chosen a platform for the introduction of drones in a single airspace

As Kommersant learned, the access of drones to a single airspace from September will be provided by the flight plan submission system (SPPI), created by Almaz-Antey and the ATM Group of Companies. The head of the Ministry of Transport Vitaly Savelyev announced the creation of a digital platform, which caused conflicting reactions among respondents “Kommersant” market participants, dispatchers and developers of competing projects. The latter hope to interact with SPPI, while drone manufacturers and operators fear that a single provider may inflate tariffs for a “pass to the sky”.

According to Kommersant, the Digital Flight Plan Submission System (DSFS) has been chosen as a digital platform for providing drone access to a single airspace. The development was created by the State Corporation for Air Traffic Management (State Air Traffic Management Corporation) subordinate to Rosaviatsia and the Almaz-Antey concern.

The Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed the information to Kommersant, specifying that the platform will work by September 1. “All the changes necessary for the implementation of this task by this date will be made to the federal rules on the use of airspace,” the regulator said. The emergence of two types of platforms – for the integration and accounting of drones – was announced on June 21 by the head of the Ministry of Transport, Vitaly Savelyev, as part of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the government.

As Kommersant was told in the Federal Air Transport Agency, SPPI will provide access to the airspace using the “one window” method and subject to existing restrictions. In addition, users will be able to receive up-to-date aeronautical information using a digital map and inform the operational bodies of the ATM system about the start and end of a flight.

The ATM SC is consulting with the regions on how to establish cooperation through the SPPI in obtaining permits from local governments to operate flights over populated areas. The same work is carried out with law enforcement agencies to inform about the legality of the flight. “These functions for subjects and law enforcement agencies will be implemented by the end of 2023,” the Federal Air Transport Agency added.

Part of the market participants interviewed by Kommersant notes that so far the SPPI has very few functions: “It is more like another electronic document management system.” Many transactions are not carried out digitally.

In addition, the functionality is initially focused on small aircraft, other interlocutors of Kommersant note, and “the interface is made for an aircraft or helicopter pilot who has the appropriate specific competencies that a regular drone user does not have.”

Similar platforms in the Russian Federation have already been developed at the Aeroscript Research Center (Nebosvod service) and at the Fly Dron company (part of Aeronet NTI). They expect that they will be able to interact with SPPI. Zarina Khubezhova, Deputy General Director of Aeroscript, notes that for the prompt delivery of goods, the mass use of drones, a number of functions are needed: the integration of drones into a digital platform, new technologies for preventing conflicts in the air, integration with anti-drone systems, a digital footprint and big data to ensure security in conditions of heavy air traffic. In addition, it is necessary to develop interaction with the ATM system for operational access to the airspace, she lists. At the same time, she added, the Aeroscript platform, “solving tasks from user authorization to flight and mission performance, liability insurance, already exists and has been operating for two years.”

The Fly Dron company expects that there will be several services. “This system is correct from the point of view of integrating the already existing platform, as well as other platforms, with the ATM Command,” says Fly Dron CEO Nikita Danilov. Services”.

Large producers have no particular objections to the situation at this stage, but some of them fear that SPPI will become the only operator, which may lead to an increase in tariffs. Several external competing services could well coexist, agrees Geoscan CEO Alexei Yuretsky. “As users, we are ready to work with any system: our management programs are compatible with any of the three listed platforms,” explains Mr. Yuretsky. “But it would make sense to give users a choice of which functionality, interface and tariffs they are more comfortable with.” Several more Kommersant sources among manufacturers and operators confirmed that such a combination is technically possible: “It is no more difficult than a car that can work with different taxi aggregators, or a seller working with different marketplaces.”

Today, the ATM State Committee does not have enough human resources and technical means for the one-time integration of drones, says the first-class air traffic controller, instructor of the air traffic control simulator at the University of Civil Aviation of St. Petersburg Sergey Gubanov. In his opinion, for the full-fledged functioning of the SPPI, there should be much more functionality than the currently available set of air routes, routes and patterns of entries and exits.

Aigul Abdullina