Remote ID for drones to combat Wild West in the UK skies

The United Kingdom's government and regulators are drawing up plans to introduce Remote ID for drones to combat the current Wild West in the skies. Plans that are being made right now say that drones will have to have electronic license plates so that law enforcement and security services can track them.

As in the US, drones in the UK would be equipped with “Remote ID” technology, which would allow the location of the user and the drone's speed, location, height, and takeoff point to be tracked.

This comes at a time when the government is becoming more worried that the registration scheme for the 300,000 people in the UK who use drones doesn't have the technology it needs to be enforced properly. The current situation has been likened to “the Wild West” by one of the sources, reports The Telegraph.

In the next five years, there are expected to be 900,000 commercial drones in the UK alone. Because of this, ministers are interested in making an aerial version of the network of cameras that read license plates on cars, so that these unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their pilots can be tracked.

In the United States, every drone will be required to have a “unique identifier” that it sends out along with its real-time location, direction, speed, elevation, and take-off point. This is part of the Remote ID system that has already been approved by Congress and will go into effect in September of this year.

Develop Remote ID Strategy

The Civil Aviation Authority has given the Swiss company Murzilli Consulting a commission to “develop a strategy for any future remote ID requirement for UK drones and remotely piloted services.” This task will be carried out in the United Kingdom.

The UK government is working toward the goal of putting in place a remote ID system by April 1, 2026. The announcement of the plans is anticipated to take place in March of this year.

In the UK, the government is getting ready to spend 8 million pounds to put anti-drone detectors around nuclear plants, transportation hubs, oil rigs, and other sensitive infrastructure to protect against terrorist attacks from the air.