Civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) of a weight exceeding 800g

Décret relatif à la limitation de capacités des aéronefs civils circulant sans personne à bord (Decree on the capacity limitation of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles), (5 pages, in French)

This draft order aims to supplement, in order to guarantee public safety and State security, French legislation concerning civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. the Order of 17 December 2015 on the design of civilian UAVs, the conditions for their use and the skills required by those using them, and the Order of 17 December 2015 on the use of airspace by UAVs, as amended on 30 March 2017.

The technical requirements contained in this draft Decree aim to ensure that drones will, in time, have a capacity limitation device that prevents them from flying above a maximum altitude. This will prevent drones from wandering off-course and, in particular, recreational drones from deliberately flying into airspace used by manned aircraft, as well as prevent drones from getting close to sensitive sites by flying covertly, because at a significant height, these behaviours are likely to constitute an attack on State security. However, drones registered before 1 July 2018, under Article L.6111-1 of the Transport Code, may alternatively be equipped (as from 1 January 2019) with a function that alerts the remote pilot when the drone is reaching maximal altitude.