Book Description

Federal agencies such as DHS, the Department of Commerce, and NASA use UASs in many areas, such as border security, weather research, and forest fire monitoring. These agencies have plans to expand their UAS use in domestic airspace, and local governments and commercial entities also have interest in using UASs. Many factors support the potential for expanded use of UASs. For example, the nation's industrial base has expanded to support military operations and the number of trained UAS operators is increasing as personnel return from overseas duty. Moreover, some of the technology used in military UAS operations could be applied to civil uses. DHS is expanding its use of UASs for border security and NASA is likely to continue using UASs to gather scientific data. Additionally, local law enforcement and firefighting agencies have expressed interest in using UASs to assist at crime scenes and wildfire locations, and commercial users envision using UASs for tasks such as photographing real estate or inspecting pipelines. According to an industry forecast, the market for government and commercial-use UASs could grow in the future. The forecast also indicates that the United States could account for 73 percent of the world s research and development investment for UAS technology over the coming decade. According to a UAS study and experts we surveyed, UAS development could lead to technological advances that could benefit all national airspace users. For example, some experts we surveyed noted that improved collision avoidance technologies developed for UASs could lead to reduced aircraft separation requirements, which could increase airspace capacity. Additionally, UASs could produce environmental benefits if they assume some missions currently performed by manned aircraft by using quieter engines that produce fewer emissions, according to experts we surveyed.