A recent Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) report that showcased potential uses of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for domestic applications concluded "the United States currently leads the world in unmanned systems technologies, but that doesn't mean it holds a monopoly. Policymakers and regulators must do everything possible to ensure U.S. competitiveness in this new era of aerospace innovation." Perhaps the time is right for government and industry to leverage a proven approach for the development of a fully unified roadmap to advance the integration of UAS within the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). If adopted, this approach could mirror a very similar process used by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) NextGen Task Force, a government and industry collaborative entity established by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) request to assist in determining NextGen implementation priorities. Applying similar strategies as the RTCA NextGen Task Force, a UAS Task Force - made up of the UAS community of interest stakeholders, manufacturers, suppliers, and vendors, along with major UAS and other aircraft operating communities - could be used as a pivotal mechanism to facilitate the initial integration of UAS within the National Airspace System (NAS) in the near-term and align full UAS integration with NextGen implementation.
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