The Current Status of UAVs

Recently in the past couple of years, civilian UAV use in the United States has been on the rise. Companies that produce these products have created UAVs that any ordinary individual can purchase at a relatively low cost, and made it fairly easy to use for someone who may not have any prior experience with one. We mostly see civilians using drones for leisure activities such as aerial photography, and just having fun with it.  According to the FAA UAS getting started website, they give you two options. You can either fly under the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (section 336) or fly under the FAA’s Small UAS Rule (Part 107). Section 336 states this is flying for hobby or recreation. You must register your model aircraft, follow community based safety guidelines, the UAV must weigh less than 55 lbs, must be within the visual line of sight, and never fly near other aircraft or notify ATC prior to flying within 5 miles of a controlled airport. These rules would apply to the civilian use. On the other hand, Part 107 allows you to fly for recreational or commercial use. You must get a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA; you must get FAA permission to fly into controlled airspace near airports, and may only fly during daylight or civil twilight, at or below 400 feet.

Drone use commercially has boomed not only in the United States, but World Wide. Countries out in the Middle East, Asia, and South America have been using UAVs to fertilize crops instead of using planes and other aircraft that can be quite costly. According to the Business Insider, other commercial uses are; Search and rescue operations, mapping of inaccessible terrain and locations, building safety inspections, crop monitoring, law enforcement and border control surveillance and storm tracking.

Honestly, not anywhere in the near future. NASA has been working hard doing various different simulations and flight tests on UAV’s integrated into the NAS. Without very precise safety guidelines and regulations there could be significant problems. First off, the airspace is already heavily populated by manned aircraft. Collision avoidance would have to be state of the art, and be able to make choices humans think may best suite a certain situation. On the other hand, individuals on the ground may not totally be okay with these unmanned objects thousands of feet up over their heads. What if something malfunctions and it falls from the sky. Without human intervention on board, there may be no possible way to stop a UAV now turned into a missile.

The first use of military UAV can be traced back to 1944 when Nazi Germany used the V-1 flying bomb, basically a missile that was guided using jet propulsion, to attack England during the war. Military UAVs have come a long way since. UAVs have allowed the military to avoid putting people into harm’s way during certain situations, as well as saving operating costs. Instead of using ground forces or large aircraft with human lives at stake, they can use an unmanned drone to fulfill the mission. Currently, the military is working on making UAVs smaller, faster, quieter, better camera quality, and able to carry a heavier payload.

The market for UAV operators for civilians and the military side are both huge right now with many different opportunities with various different options. This link has hundreds of different listings for UAV jobs; http://www.jobmonkey.com/uniquejobs/drone-operator-jobs/

Citations:

Getting Started. (2017, December 15). Retrieved February 09, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/

Joshi, D. (2017, July 13). Exploring the latest drone technology for commercial, industrial and military drone uses. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/drone-technology-uses-2017-7

Reynish, W. (2004, October 01). UAVs Entering the NAS. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from http://www.aviationtoday.com/2004/10/01/uavs-entering-the-nas/