The UAS Advisory Committee is a working group established by the CAA and comprising senior figures from across the UAS industry. It has been created as a means by which industry may convey a coordinated stakeholder view and collaborate with the CAA on regulatory improvements and future developments in the sector.
Membership
The UAS Advisory Committee is co-chaired by an industry representative elected by committee members (Aleks Kowalski, ARPAS UK) and the CAA’s Head of FS&I Technical Strategy. Designed to reflect the UK UAS Sector as comprehensively as possible, the Committee’s membership includes: Commercial Operators in the Specific Category; Manufacturers; RAE-F’s; RAE-PC’s; Stakeholder Working Groups; Trade Bodies, and Standards Bodies.
The Committee is currently made up of representatives of the following organisations:
- ADS Group
- ARPAS-UK
- Atkins Realis
- Avtrain
- BSI Group
- BT
- NATS/BVLOS Operators’ Forum
- CAA
- DJI
- Drone Alliance Europe
- Liverpool University
- Marshall Group
- RUAS
Members were selected by the CAA through an open competition, following a public call for applications on consultations.caa.co.uk
Scope and Aims
The aim of the UAS Advisory Committee is for industry to complete work to assist the CAA. Industry participants are asked to commit to completing the majority of the work – with CAA input and direction, so that outputs are efficient and aligned with the CAA’s objectives and programmes of work.
The Committee has three roles:
- Discussing strategic direction
- Prioritising work
- Completing research and advising on specific questions
In all three of these roles the UAS Advisory Committee is designed to act as source of information. The Committee can produce reports and make recommendations, but the CAA will choose whether to accept the recommendations or not.
Reports produced by the UAS Advisory Committee will be published and the CAA will formally respond to reports, explaining how the report has influenced any CAA policy decision and (where applicable) what action will be taken.
Current tasks
The UAS Advisory Committee have agreed to the following initial tasks:
Task 01: Standardised Applications in the Specific Category
- A subgroup of the UAS Advisory Committee will develop a UK strategy for standardised applications in the specific category of UAS operations. This is intended to:
- Simplify the application process, improving speed and accessibility
- Reduce processing time and costs
- Maintain or enhance safety
- The subgroup will investigate options for standardised applications and recommend the best approach for UK Industry.
- The subgroup will deliver a short report recommending UK approach for Standardised Applications, including a list of priority use cases based on industry demand and regulatory fit.
Task 02: Focus Group on UK SORA applications
- This task aims to gather industry experience on completing UK SORA applications, enabling the CAA to improve the process.
- A focus group of up to 10 industry representatives (who could be from either within or outside the UAS Advisory Committee) will be convened, in order to constructively contribute their experiences of and views upon the UK SORA application service to the CAA.
- Following the focus groups, the CAA will document findings and planned actions based upon the evidence submitted.
Governance
Secretariat functions, including minutes and meeting logistics, are provided to the UAS Advisory Committee by the CAA. The cadence of meetings is agreed by the co-chairs in consultation with Committee members. There is no funding allocated for the running of the UAS Advisory Committee.
A draft Terms of Reference was published alongside the CAA’s call for applications.
Recent meetings and summaries
Meeting 3: 6 February 2026
The third meeting of the UAS Advisory Committee will take place on Friday 6 February 2026.
Meeting 2: 17 December 2025
The December meeting focused on progressing Tasks 01 (standardised applications in the Specific Category) and 02 (UK SORA focus group), assigning leads and agreeing next steps. Members reviewed 63 ideas for further tasks consolidated into 27 themes, and voted on which tasks to take forward. A collaboration site was launched, and an ambition to meet monthly was agreed. Measures to enhance the Committee’s reach were agreed, including publishing recommendations and a public-facing summary.
Meeting 1: 12 November 2025
Members committed to collaboration and transparency, agreeing on operating principles and governance. Key priorities were discussed, including accelerating BVLOS development through CAA and community roadmaps aligned with SORA 3.0. The agreed objectives of initial tasks would be improving the SORA digital platform and mapping UAS use cases. A co-chair selection process began, and meeting cadence was set to monthly/bimonthly.