drones on sme

2. Overview

The objective of this essay is to identify the usages of the UAV’s technology for commercial proposes and give evidence of the benefits of their benefits when they become part of the value proposition for the final user. However, to understand the present status of this technology it is mandatory to analyse the first stages in the life cycle of unmanned aircrafts.

According to the Department of Defense of the Unite States, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as unmanned aerial systems (UAS), pilotless aircraft, robot planes or simply drones are powered, aerial vehicles that do not carry human operator, use aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload. This definition is descriptive, since it refers to a general conceptual frame of what a drone is, but vague at the same time because this meaning covers lots of other objects, not necessarily drones.

Based on the latter concept, the first unmanned aircraft registered so far was Germany’s V-1, flying bomb, but it was in during the Vietnam War when UAVs equipped with cameras and sensors played a key role by doing surveillance and monitoring flights. In fact, the term drone connotes a high-technology-war instrument. Eventually in late 1970’s and 1980’s the Israeli Air Force successfully used UAVs during military operations in Lebanon. Since conflicts in Kosovo, military agencies have been using these robot planes for intelligence gathering. Later on, throughout the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, broadcasting means covered the military effectiveness of UAVs in battle areas, where they showed two advantages above manned-aircraft: risk minimization...

... middle of paper ...

... might think a drone could track every activity they do, which is actually possible. Consequently, the set of rules shall guarantee that UAVs will be used specifically for the purpose they were bought for.

In the global competition environment, it is observed that some countries will adopt UAVs into their airspace faster than others. It depends mainly in two factors, the grade of aversion towards privacy and security of a society, and the commercial power of UAVs in certain applications. Specific segments are more attractive and still more used for certain markets, i.e. what they want UAVs for? See annex 4.

Today, most of the States deliberate and research on the proper and safer way to introduce UAVs into their national air space. They know the economic potential of commercializing drones in open markets. Time is a key in the development of this industry.