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Akistan is moving towards a drone -powered future. However, its progress is far from permanent and organized. Despite the global pace of the unmanned aerial system, the country is caught in outdated rules and bureaucratic hardship.
The rules of the civil unmanned aircraft of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority were 2024, one step ahead, yet its implementation has been broken. Operators still visit the vague rankings, override the approval of the basic components and the import duty flop.
The long -term civil drone authority, which could centralize central surveillance, remains inactive. What is left is an uncertain environment where innovation is incidental, not an institution.
The default approach to the drone – especially in the civilian domain – is the reaction. Security agencies dominate airspace regulations, resulting in a ban on blankets near borders and urban centers. Imports of lithium battery face more than 30 % rates, and more than 10kg drones require the approval of the Ministry of Defense, often not explained.
Startups and research teams also face months regulatory backbacks for normal operations. In the meantime, the absence of data protection laws, especially users, farmers and small businesses, suspect how to misuse or prevent drone occupation data.
Other countries have shown what regulatory harmony can be achieved. The partnership with Rwanda’s zipline enabled the supply of blood and vaccine to remote clinics, which reduced the maternity rate.
Israel had created a regulatory sandbox under its national drone move to allow 23,000 under -supervised test flights without waiting for perfect rules. The European Union’s EASA framework has implemented dynamic geo -fencing, cross -border licensing and risk -based rating.
The US Federal Aviation Administration, while conservative in some aspects, has developed clear standards of pilot certification and paved the waiver for commercial operators. These jurisdictions do not ignore security – but they do not allow it to paralyze development.
In Pakistan, the opposite is undeniable. Pilot projects in Punjab suggest that precision spraying can increase agricultural production by 20-30 %, though large-scale duplicates still lack strong diagnosis. The potential annual benefit of GDP from drone -powered agriculture can only reach $ 1.5 to $ 2 billion by 2030.
Flood studies using drones in 2022 show how the reaction times can be dramatically cut, though most of the 70 % reduction claims are formally lacking. Citizens like Lahore are already using drones to monitor and implement traffic. In Balochistan, pilot vaccine delivery projects reduced medical transit hours to six hours.
The export market for tactical drones is also opening. Systems like Shahpar-II have been publicly presented. With the correct certification, they can enter the 300-700 million niche exports in the next five years.
On the front of the job, the conservative estimates are kept in more than 100,000 new roles: piling, rehabilitation, data processing and the assembly. Universities like nost and comeds have engineering capacity, but lack of integrated programs focused on drone applications, especially linked to agriculture, logistics and public infrastructure.
The export market for tactical drones is also opening. Systems like Shahpar-II have been publicly presented. With the correct certification, they can enter the 300-700 million niche exports in the next five years.
Domestic manufacturing is technically effective, but is organized un -contributed. More than fifty companies, including Satoma, Agricultures and Sisoro Aerospace, are already in the field. PAC Kamra has developed with Turkish partners in collaboration with UAV, and China’s Wing Living platform has been molded locally.
However, all of these firms rely on imported flight controllers, optical sensors and energy systems, subjecting each one to revenue, customs desserts ambiguous security screening. The purpose of a special technology zone like Islamabad technology was to shut down this gap, but they have failed to give priority to drone businesses.
The National Aerospace Science and Technology Park is less used in providing manufacturing links or purchases for local firms, especially for local firms.
The main problem is a piece of policy. The Civil Aviation Ordinance of 1960, the 2011 Air Navigation Order and the new PCAA rules are now parallel. Import and operational approval is distributed to the PCAA, provincial governments and the Ministry of Defense, which contains a little alignment.
Startups are forced to choose between flying under the radar or sinking in compliance. Rules make a fine place but do not offer any privileges. Even public sector institutions such as disaster management officials or traffic control departments have no formal way to purchase drone services from local providers.
Five decisive reforms are needed along the way. First, establish a fully active civil drone authority with an obvious legal mandate and registration, licensing and airspace allowing a fully functional digital platform.
Second, introduce a regulatory sandbox model to allow safe experiences through startups, research labs and universities in surveillance conditions.
Third, the financial privileges for local production-the drone components of the saffron rating, the commercial reign, the R&D grant to the R&D grant and the embedded drone vendors in public purchase pipelines for agriculture, energy and supplies.
Fourth, invest in manpower capacity. More than 200 training centers will be set up, with rural targets and practical certificates in piloting, telemetry and AI -based analytics.
Fifth, prepare specific regulations related to the sector that reflect the original operating conditions. Such as an agricultural drone, easy rules and efficiency standards for inspection.
These are not radical measures. They are the basic governance upgrades associated with global principles. But they need political explanation and institutional patience. The real opportunity is not in hardware, but in the systems that make and manage it. Drone can add billions to GDP, save lives, modernize public services and generate jobs, but only if infrastructure is considered, no risk.
Pakistan is nothing short of technical capabilities or industrial capacity. Its lack of alignment – between ambitions and policy; Between greeting and innovation; And between rules and use. Drone is not just flying tools. He is a state -of -the -art device. How we choose to rule them will determine whether they are laid down or learn to guide them in the heavens.
The author is the Associate Research Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. This can be reached to Ahad@sdpi.org. The article does not necessarily represent the ideas of the organization.
