The Art of Drones: A General’s Guide to Unmanned Aviation

Clarifying the Political, Legal, and Practical Basis

On August 9th, the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Committee held a seminar on “Perfecting policies and laws on managing unmanned aircraft, ultralight aircraft, and ensuring air defense.”

According to Senior Lieutenant General Tran Quang Phuong, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, the opinions of the delegates at this seminar are of theoretical, practical, and scientific value, providing a wealth of information for the refinement of the bill and the report to be presented to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly at the August 2024 session. Mr. Phuong requested that the Defense and Security Committee organize a final session to review and explain the bill before reporting to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested continuing to review and clarify the political, legal, and practical basis for transferring the management of unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft from the Law on Civil Aviation in Vietnam and legalizing several decrees.

Senior Lieutenant General Phuong noted the need to clearly distinguish between what can be legalized and avoid creating a “framework law” or a “pipe law” without specifying the provisions in the bill. Along with this, it is necessary to review the viewpoints and guidelines of the Party related to unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft.

“The development of science and technology in the fields of national defense and security is very strong, and investment in unmanned aerial vehicles will increase tenfold or more in the future. They will be mainly used for military, security, transportation, agriculture, and many other commercial sectors and will be improved in terms of payload, sensors, and control…”, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly stated.

Reviewing the Prohibited Acts

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong emphasized that air defense is a task not only during conflicts but also in peacetime to prepare for prevention, defense, retaliation, and recovery to protect the airspace and the peaceful labor life of the people.

“Since unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft can attack anywhere, at any time, and these civilian vehicles can be modified, assigned tasks, and used for military purposes both within and outside the territory, as well as for business competition, it is necessary to strengthen the practical basis to convince National Assembly delegates,” Mr. Phuong said.

Regarding the concept, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested that the drafting agency and the verifying agency carefully consider and choose the optimal option, explaining and clarifying the choice of “unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft” or “unmanned aerial vehicles and other vehicles.”

Regarding licensing, flight suspension, forecasting, and flight notification, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong suggested that these matters be carefully considered for inclusion in the law, especially regarding flight operating conditions and the authority to grant permits for unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft, with the detailed regulations to be assigned to the Government.

Furthermore, to perfect the bill, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested reviewing the prohibited acts to establish a reasonable system of prohibitions, as well as reviewing the policies in the law to prevent legal loopholes, minimize compliance costs for people and businesses, and create a healthy business environment.