2. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles “Drones”
UAV Systems
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
“Drones”

4. What are “drones”
Any aircraft that does not have a human operator “on board”?
Balloons, Frisbees, kites, R/C planes?
Not exactly…

6. Key characteristics: Remote or Autonomous Control Powered Unmanned
Aerodynamic Forces for Lift
Can carry a Payload1
Easy acronym? C-P-U-L-P ;-)

7. Elements of UAS: More than just the aircraft! Unmanned aircraft (UA)
Control system, such as ground control station (GCS)
Control link, a specialized datalink
Other related support equipment 2

9. Brief History: Been around a while!
1800’s Austria attacks Venice with bomb-filled balloons
Minimal efforts during WWI and WWII
Kicked of during Vietnam War, 3400 combat missions 3
General John C. Meyer said, "we let the drone do the high-risk flying ... the loss rate is high, but we are willing to risk more of them ... they save lives!“
As of 2012, the United States Air Force employed 7,494 UAVs - almost 1 in 3 USAF aircraft. 4

11. Non-Military Applications:
“Please don’t call me a drone!”
Scientific
Research
Crop Surveying
Pipeline Inspection
Catching
Fugitives
Cargo
Transport
Illegal Dump Detection
Crowd
Monitoring
Filmmaking
Archeology
Power line
Inspection
Aerial
Photography
Medical
Delivery
Humanitarian Aid
Journalism
Landslide
Measurement
Surveillance
Border Patrol
Maritime Patrol
Fire Detection
Detection of
Illegal Hunting
Reconnaissance
Land Surveying
Accident Investigation
Search and Rescue
Wildlife
Counts

13. Regulation: A moving target! FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012
Deadline of September 30, 2015 for the agency to establish regulations to allow the use of commercial drones. 5
As of August 2013
Commercial unmanned aerial system6 (UAS) licenses were granted on a case- by-case basis, subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Previously, COAs required a public entity as a sponsor (like MTSU)
February 15, 2015
The FAA announced that up to seven thousand businesses could get approval to fly drones under proposed rules by the FAA

14. References:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. (n.d.) Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. (2005).
"Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)" (PDF). Icao.int.
Robert Kanyike. "History of U.S. Drones".
"Almost 1 In 3 U.S. Warplanes Is a Robot". WIRED. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
"FAA MODERNIZATION AND REFORM ACT OF 2012" (PDF). Gpo.gov.
Ahlers, Mike. November 7, FAA takes initial steps to introduce private drones in U.S. skies CNN.