Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more and more popular for military use, but also for civilian usage. Currently, there are not many civilian companies that are using UAV’s. However, there are a few companies (government, universities) that hold a permit from the FAA to fly private drones.  UAV’s are currently being used for; Hurricane Hunting, 3-D Mapping, Protecting Wildlife, Agriculture, and Search and Rescue (Handwerk, 2013).  According to Handwerk, the uses of drones have been very effective and have excelled in these areas of work. According to the FAA website, there are a handful of regulations that are required to abide by for civilian recreational use. However, if UAV’s are being used for non-recreational operations, you must receive authorization by the FAA.

            I believe that it is only a matter of time before UAV’s will be integrated with the National Airspace System (NAS). In my opinion, integrating UAV’s and NAS is inevitable. Civilians using UAV’s, regardless of the reason, will push the boundaries and will eventually require cooperation between NAS and the operation of UAV’s.   If UAV’s are integrated in the NAS, there are bound to be some communication and safety issues. One major communication concern would be being able to interact with Air Traffic Control (ATC). If UAV’s are unable to communicate efficiently with ATC, the chances of and accident or incident increase drastically. As for safety risks, if UAV’s are integrated into the NAS, other aircafts will need to know where a UAV is located. If they do not, there is a chance for mid-air collisions, causing accidents to occur. I believe if drones develop a system so they can communicate with ATC, and a way for ATC to track them, this will help eliminate the safety risks, and will allow UAV’s to be integrated into the NAS safely.

            The use of civilian UAV’s is relatively new. With that being said, the military have used UAV’s, quite effectively for over a decade now. Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers, “over 95% of all non-battlefield targeted killings have been conducted by drones” (Drones, 2014). The uses of drones have been so effective to the military because they are able to conduct surveillance. “In 2008, the CIA began a policy of signature strikes against targets outside of named kill list” (Drones, 2014). The signature strikes policy now allows drone attacks based on an individuals pattern of life or their suspicious daily behavior. Financially, the use of drones is cheaper than the use of military jets. The cost to build a military drone is between 5 million and 14.4 million dollars. In the United States, the cost of a military fighter jets vary on price, but range between 60- 100 million dollars per unit. So,, not only are drones cheaper, but they are also safer for the pilots. There is no chance of the pilot being gunned down in a drone.

            While doing some research for different jobs involving UAV’s, I found this website specifically for UAV careers. A lot of the jobs on this listing database were deployment and military jobs, however, there were quite a few civilian jobs. A civilian pilot job that I found was for Textron, the leader of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This position was a Instructor pilots for a Gray Eagle UAV. As for management careers, I did not find a job listing. However, I would have to imagine that the manager would be responsible for making sure that the pilots are trained correctly, the scheduling for crews, making sure that the pilots are staying current on their ratings and performing proficiently.

References

Batey, A. (2014, September 2). The low-cost fighters to serve tomorrow's air forces. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140903-low-cost-fighter-jets-take-

Top of FormBottom of FormCivil Operations (Non-Governmental). (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/uas/civil_operations

Drones - ProCon.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://drones.procon.org/#background

Handwerk, B. (2013, December 2). 5 Surprising Drone Uses (Besides Amazon Delivery). Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131202-drone-uav-uas-amazon-octocopter-bezos-science-aircraft-unmanned-robot/

Model Aircraft Operations. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

Weibel, R., & Hansman, J. (2005, March 1). SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS FOR OPERATION OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/34912/Weibel - ICAT Report - UAV Safety.pdf