ARLINGTON, VA. – Clifford Sweatte, senior policy advisor for Crown Consulting Inc., has been named to the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International’s (AUVSI) Air Advocacy Committee (AAC).

The ACC sets the legislative and regulatory priorities in the air domain for the association via input and feedback from its membership. Committee members work intimately with federal regulators in the executive branch, lawmakers in the legislative branch, and their staffs, as well as state, local, and tribal officials, to help scale unmanned/uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) integration in a meaningful way. The goal is to ensure the government’s regulatory framework fosters innovation and spurs U.S. competitiveness.

The AAC comprises of a diverse group of AUVSI member companies, including UAS operators, UAS manufacturers, software companies, defense contractors, counter-UAS companies, AAM companies, Drone as First Responder (DFR) companies, public safety experts.

Sweatte, an accomplished regulatory affairs and advanced aviation program executive, assists Crown clients in developing policies and strategic programs that drive the development, launch and expansion of AAM technologies, including UAS remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). He brings decades of aviation-related technical and management expertise from across the world.

Sweatte informed the strategies of Fortune 100 aircraft and auto original equipment manufacturers to expand their advanced aviation operations by developing policy and project frameworks that covered all facets of the AAM market, from aircraft design selection to type and operational certification. He served as an aviation officer at the World Food Programme, where he led the integration of UAS technology with global humanitarian and international development operations, contributing to the organization’s receipt of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. He served as technical officer for RPAS for The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, leading the development of a global, multi-sector framework for unmanned air traffic management (UTM).

Earlier, Sweatte managed multiple UAS programs at the Federal Aviation Administration, including novel projects for which no prior protocols existed. He led the drafting and signing of the world’s first international, multilateral agreement among eight Arctic countries for the cross-border use of UAS in international airspace for scientific and search and rescue missions. His impact and leadership have earned him repeated recognition, including the NASA Group Achievement Award, FAA Headquarters Visionary Award and FAA Barrier Breaker Award.

About Crown Consulting Inc.

Founded in 1989, Crown (www.crownci.com) applies engineering, information solutions, analytics, and infrastructure expertise to assist government and industry in enhancing performance and planning for future challenges. Specializing in the field of aviation, Crown has earned a reputation for forging system and service solutions based on analytic rigor and real-world perspectives – as reflected in contributions to challenging programs with the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA. Today, the company is at the forefront of integrating emerging technologies and advanced aviation systems into the National Airspace System through dedicated support to federal agencies, state and local governments, and private-sector clients.