UAS

Civilian use of unmanned aerial vehicles are vast and the best uses of this ability have yet to be thought of because this industry is still in the beginning stages, it’s were the aircraft were in the 1920 and is about to hit the golden age. The first uses that come to mind are aerial survey and application of chemicals for agriculture, this will allow farmers to understand their crops better and to better treat the land to reduce cost and increase production capabilities. After solving our food problem they may turn to a defensive posture to spot and combat fire that could encroach upon residents or financial assets. Delivery of fire suppressants without the loss of life that fire fighters encounter day to day would be supper beneficial.  Delivery of essentials goods in a timely manner would also be a great purpose among many others. Currently UAS’s are not given permission to operate and though court decisions are also not banned from operations in US airspace. Many who have had action taken against them defeated the FAA in court because of their lack of policy regarding UAS’s in US airspace. The congress has set a date for the FAA to integrate UAS’s in the airspace, but just recently the FAA disclosed that they do not believe they will meet that deadline.
I believe it is inevitable that UAS’s will be integrated into the NAS. It would stifle a multibillion dollar sector if they were not allowed inside the NAS. I believe that there is need for a tiered approach based on weight to allow very small (below 500lb) UAS’s to be able to fly in the first place based on sensor integration so to not over burden a small UAS with lots of weight. This would allow small low flying craft (below 1200ft) to effectively complete their mission without flying high or heavy. Then for high (above 1200ft) heavy (above 500lb) class they would be able to load many different sensors to allow multiple systems with backup so as to not fail. If a small class was able to demonstrate capabilities of the large class then they as well would be able to fly high. Problems arising from the integration include flying aircraft that have not passed testing and would thus be unreliable so a system would need to be in place to test and if failure were to occur rely on mitigation of obstacles as to not harm people or property. Furthermore this system should not be government based but businesses that are agnostic to politics and companies but are certified on behalf of the FAA for a speedy certification. As for perception problems if the government lays down the rules and is for the most part an overseer of the development and not an active determiner of the winners and losers of certification then the perception of UAV’s can be positive with humanitarian and civil services allowed to help people with the uses of such capabilities.
The capabilities of UAV’s for the military as much like the introduction of GPS because of its usefulness in data collection. It gave the commanders on the ground much more flexibility and information then they had before allowing them to evaluate the situation in real time and determine force needs for a particular mission. The integration of UAS’s is not efficient though using the air force as an example the justification of buying 401 reaper aircraft was weak to say the least. Although they will be used they may have over bought and later reduced the contract by 55 units. DOD acquisitions is not always in accordance with force structure or best practices for procurement and is often more or less congressionally influenced by jobs in the state of the representatives who sign such bills. Ethical U.S. soldiers do not die for the most part when a drone strike occurs, so as an American this is ethically the right thing to do as a commander as oppose to sending in troops with the possibility of taking on casualties. The enemy may not think it is ethical, but they are the enemy so they don’t get a say. The bad press is usually in regards to civilian deaths that are a result of poor intelligence and inability to resolve images to the quality necessary to make an accurate determination. I believe the visual capabilities of the UAS’s will improve and need to in order to stop such travesties in the future.
 http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/10/01/audit-air-force-didnt-justify-reaper-fleet-size/

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