02 Apr 12. IWA & OutdoorClassics 2012 from 9–12 March was thoroughly convincing again with a record number of exhibitors that topped 1,200 for the first time and 36,000 trade visitors from more than 100 countries. So the 39th edition of the world-leading international exhibition for hunting and sporting guns, classic outdoor activities and security equipment in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg welcomed more guests than ever before from all over the world. Enforce Tac, the new special exhibition for the needs of security experts from official agencies, also experienced a promising premiere on 8–9 March 2012. The result for 2012 in figures* is 1,204 exhibitors and 36,004 trade visitors from 109 countries. This corresponds to growth in all segments over the previous event in 2011, when 1,166 exhibitors and 35,220 visitors came to Nürnberg. Not just the number of exhibitors increased in 2012, but the display area also grew to more than 74,000 m². The extra exhibition hall over previous years meant the structure of the exhibition segments could be optimized again. The additional hall not only offered space for new exhibitors to present their products, but also enabled many regular exhibitors at IWA & OutdoorClassics to extend their space with extremely high-quality stands. *The figures for exhibitors and visitors are checked and certified by the Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM), Berlin.
02 Apr 12. The RPAS 2012 conference, which takes place in Paris, France on 5-7 June 2012, will feature 45 speakers from international organizations [International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS)], European organizations [European Commission Directorate General Enterprise & Industry, Directorate General for Mobility & Transport; European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EUROCONTROL, European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), European Defence Agency (EDA), FRONTEX, SESAR Joint Undertaking], national governmental representatives (Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment; Netherlands; Ministry of Justice, Brazil; NASA, USA; TsAGI, Russian Fed.), national regulatory authorities (DGAC, France; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), USA), standards organizations (ASTM, EUROCAE, RTCA), national military representatives (Australia, France, UK), as well as universities, consortia (ASTRAEA; ULTRA) and industry representatives, from 17 countries in total (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA). A significant part of this conference will be dedicated to the current regulatory status relative to the operation of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), the policy being put in place in Europe and the USA to improve the situation, and the additional actions required to make it possible for military and non-military remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to gain routine and unrestricted access to civil-managed airspace. The European Commission will present the conclusions of the EC UAS Panel and how it plans to proceed. All institutional members of the EC UAS Panel will also give presentations. ICAO will give an update on the progress made by the ICAO UAS Study Group. The FAA will present their new UAS Integration Office and their planned way forward.