Prior to the introduction of domestic drone regulations this year, Indonesians have used drones for a variety of applications, including environmental conservation and traffic management. On July 28th the Ministry of Transportation introduced regulations that will limit the areas in which civilians may use unmanned aircrafts. Licenses will also need to be acquired in order to fly UAVs in Indonesian airspace. The new regulations lays out restrictions on where drones can fly, and also requires drone users to register their flight plans with the local civil navigation authority. In addition, changes to the flight plan must be submitted to the Ministry of Transportation seven days prior to the operation of the unmanned aircraft.
Military
- In 2013 Indonesia’s Defense Ministry announced that it would initiate production of the Wulung surveillance drone, which it began developing in 2004. The drone was successfully flight-tested in 2012 and has a wingspan of 16 ft. It has a flight endurance of four hours. The drone can handle payloads of surveillance cameras and can transmit real-time video footage to its ground station.
- Indonesia’s Wulung drones are used by other government ministries to monitor illegal logging and fishing, active volcanoes, and forest fires.
- Indonesia’s tax office uses dronesto catch palm-oil plantations and miners who are misrepresenting the actual size of their plantation and mines.
- During the month of Ramadan and Eid, Indonesian police used unmanned aircraft to monitor heavy trafficgoing in and out of Jakarta.
Civilian/Commercial/Conservation
Drones in Indonesia have been used in various environmental protection and conservation programs. Here is a list of environmental campaigns that have made use of drones:
- In 2012, a group of researchers in Sumatra began using fixed wing dronesto monitor the habitats of orangutangs. The project, which drew widespread attention as an early example of the potential of drones for conservation, gave rise to the now well-known organization Conservation Drones.
- Indonesia’s Center for Research and Technology uses quadcopters for monitoring an active volcano on Mount Sinabung in the North Sumatran region of Indonesia.
- Here isa video of indigenous tribes in Indonesia using relatively inexpensive quadcopters to gather visual data on their territory. These drones help gather evidence of deforestation at the hands of illegal palm oilers by providing stark before and after shots of the tribe’s territory.