1. What is an unmanned aircraft?

An unmanned aircraft can be defined as an aircraft in which the aircraft and its pilot are not collocated. As generally used, the term “aircraft” refers to fixed- or rotor-winged vehicles, so ballistic projectiles, missiles, balloons, blimps, dirigibles, kites, etc., are excluded from this definition.

2. Why are there different names for unmanned aircraft and what do they mean?

Unmanned aircraft have also been referred to as drones (both as “assault” and “surveillance drones”) in the 1930-60s, special purpose aircraft (SPA) in the 1960-70s, as remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) in the 1970-90s, as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the 1990-2000s, and as remotely operated aircraft (ROA) in the 2000s. Today, the DoD and the FAA use the term “unmanned aircraft system” (UAS) as an all-inclusive term for an aircraft without an onboard pilot, although the U.S. Air Force refers to its Predators as ROA due to their unique stick-and-rudder ground cockpits. In their early days, manned aircraft also had various names, such as aerodromes, planophores, and aeroplanes.

3. Why would someone use an unmanned aircraft instead of a manned aircraft?

Unmanned aircraft are better suited for what are commonly referred to as the “dull, dirty, or dangerous” roles. The dull could have been the 30-hour long, physiologically-draining B-2 flights over Kosovo in 1999, the dirty could have been the Russian helicopter flights into the deadly radiation zone above Chernobyl in 1986, and the dangerous could have been the loss of the U.S. Navy EP-3 off Hainan Island and the capture of its 24 crewmen in 2001.

4. What was the first unmanned aircraft?

Elmer and Lawrence Sperry successfully flew an unmanned Curtiss Speed Scout over a 1000-yard course on Long Island, New York, USA, on 6 Mar 1917, recovered it, and subsequently flew it again. Earlier attempts, by Sperry and others (notably A. M. Low of England) had crashed immediately after takeoff. The first radio-controlled unmanned flight was made by a Royal Aircraft Establishment 1921 Target on 3 Sep 1924, some 8 years after Low first attempted it. A similar feat was accomplished by the U.S. Navy 12 days later.

5. What has been the largest, smallest, fastest, longest and highest flying unmanned aircraft?

6. When did the first unmanned aircraft fly across the Atlantic? The Pacific? The poles?

The Institu Group’s Aerosonde Laima made the first successful unmanned crossing of the Atlantic on 20-21 Aug 1998, flying from Bell Island, Newfoundland, Canada, to Benbecula, Outer Hebrides, Scotland in 26 h 45 m. The Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Southern Cross II made the first successful crossing of the Pacific on 22-23 Apr 2001, flying from Edwards AFB, California, to RAAF Edinburgh, Australia, in 23 h. Although Aerosondes have flown over both the Antarctic and the Arctic, no UAS has yet flown over either pole.

7. What country has the most unmanned aircraft in use?

With nearly 2000 remotely piloted helicopters and some 10,000 licensed operators for them, Japan has the most unmanned aircraft in use, predominantly in agricultural roles.

8. What challenges do unmanned aircraft face?

The most immediate hurdle for unmanned aviation is technology standardization (automating a pilot’s ability to see & avoid is a key one), followed by regulatory recognition (spectrum allocation as an example), and then insurance industry acceptance. Improved reliability is not so much a challenge as a design decision; the more expensive the plane, manned or unmanned, the higher its reliability, although most people who equate UASs with low cost are then disappointed by their reliability.

9. What is the commercial outlook for unmanned aviation? (see 5.1 Market Forecast)

     A small but sustained civilian market for UAS services has already emerged.
     In Japan, some 2000 remotely piloted helicopters (RPHs) are employed in the agriculture industry to plow, fertilize, and apply pesticides to 10 percent of their rice crops. This service began in 1990. Four RPH manufacturers support this market, with Yamaha being the dominant one. Their regulation is handled under the ministry of agriculture rather than that of aviation. Yamaha also leases its RPH services to the city of Tucson for urban insecticide spraying.
     In the U.S., Coptervision manufactures and operates RPHs for the film industry, using them to film high speed case scenes, hangar fly-throughs, and other hazardous shots. Aerosonde, an Australian-U.S. company (now part of AAI), regularly leases its services to the Air Force, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation for weather monitoring and climate studies. Both have been in business since the late 1990s.
     The current FAA regulatory structure allows only ‘private’ UAS owners to operate their UASs under a SAC, meaning service providers must sell their systems to the customer. Obtaining a SAC typically takes 4 to 6 months and requires a detailed safety analysis of the aircraft and the planned operation to be submitted. The SAC process will probably be the only avenue open to UAS operators entering U.S. civilian markets over the next 5 years, effectively limiting these markets to owner-operators. Service providers (and non-owner-operator customers) may appear in the following 5-year period, depending on the FAA’s UAS Roadmap’s recommendations.
     When the ‘real’ civil unmanned aviation market that the above question anticipates does emerge, it will probably consist of existing airliners, such as freighters, modified to operate unmanned. Target drones provide an analogy; modifying formerly manned aircraft has proven preferable to acquiring a new drone design. Contrary to most expectations, it will probably not consist of orders for hundreds or thousands more Global Hawks or Predators or some new design UAS.