Military drones to fly in Australian civilian airspace for the first time

Over the coming months, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will fly military drones in civilian airspace for the first time.

Leased to the RAAF by Israel Aerospace Industries, the two Heron remotely piloted Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) will be flown out of Rockhampton Airport in Queensland in June and July.

Wing Commander Jonathan McMullan, who is in charge of the unit that pilots the UAS, was deployed to Afghanistan three times between 2011 to 2013 to oversee Heron missions there. McMullan told Mashable Australia the RAAF intends to take these flights "very slowly and very safely." Read more...