The Swedish Transport Agency (STA) has approved the establishment of a temporary D-area and associated geographical UAS zone in Norrköping, allowing the Swedish Police Authority to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations with automated “drone-in-a-box” systems within controlled airspace (Norrköping CTR) – a first-of-its-kind solution in Sweden, and potentially a model that could be applied at other control zones where there is a demonstrated need for BVLOS operations before U-space becomes available, according to the agency.
“The decision enables police UAS operations up to 120 m AGL and is intended to support, among other things, situational awareness, crime prevention and incident management,” said Christoffer Massinger, State focal point & U-space specialist at the Swedish Transport Agency. “What makes the case particularly interesting is the way the airspace has been designed. The D-area was developed through local coordination with the airport stakeholders, ATS and other relevant airspace users, with the aim of designing a volume that enables the operation while minimizing its impact on other aviation. Meanwhile, a geographical UAS-zone that correlates with the D-area has been designed to limit/restrict access to other UAS-operations above 79 meter AGL, to give the Police authority an exclusive right of way between 80 and 120 meters AGL. The D-area does not exclude manned aviation; instead, specific conditions and coordination procedures are used to balance the rights and responsibilities of different airspace users and to enable coexistence. ATS will be able to perform their duties while the Police is operating in the area.”
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