UAV roles in todays aviation world

As time moves forward, we continue to create more and more advanced technology. Aviation in particular has always had a fast track of technology, as in a mere century we have seen the first true manned flight, to the invention of the jet engine, and now the rise of UAV's. Today's UAV world is still a complicated one, as the FAA has yet to allow them fly legally. Currently, that means that there are no official civilian users in the US but it they have been reported to be used by law enforcement for surveillance, for farmers to keep track of crops, and there is currently a program at University of North Dakota, one of the prominent aviation colleges in the US that teaches students on the use of drones. That being said, drones have been used around the rest of the world, such as in Canada for search and rescues use.

While this paints a somewhat gloomy picture on the current state of UAV use, the reality is that they will be part of our skies in the near future. The FAA is open to discussion to limited drone use being possible in 2015 and that will only be the beginning. There are many roles that UAV's can play in our world, and the cost savings, as well as the job creation is endless. The question is how can they be integrated in our current airspace. The most likely scenario that I can conceive is the creation of a new airspace (Hotel airspace?), a separate airspace that has a very limited ceiling as to not interfere with current GA traffic. If a drone were to say fly above this airspace, there must be some sort of beacon, either radio, visual or both to show exactly where it is. The problem is how small some of these drones can get might mean that GA aircraft will inevitability collide, causing a crash or even a death that would not have happened.  The other big issue has to be privacy. While privacy is currently protected under law, its going to be hard to enforce if a drone can fly from nearly anywhere in a local area, spy on whomever they want to and return to either the owner, or even just crash the drone in a remote location to deny any evidence of use. As far as logistical problems, it seems like there are quite a few producers out there just waiting for the official word, so there will be no problems of getting ahold of a UAV

Military aviation, in contrast to the civilian side has been booming. Initial UAV use, starting during the first Gulf War was limited to spotting targets, and being a new technology was costly. Fast forward 20 years and now a drone strike is a common occurrence nearly every day. Drones can be flown from one spot in California, by a two man crew, who are controlling a UAV nearly six thousand miles away, for a fraction of the cost of a manned aircraft. This also allows for the crew to remain in a safe area and if the aircraft is lost then its as simple as buying another one. There are many ethical questions that have been linked to drone use, but the way I see it is that drone or not if the USAF or CIA is trying to kill somebody, they will use anyway possible and currently the best technology today is a drone.

 I think a better ethical question would be the removal of man from conflict. Losses in war is something that is always considered, and sending people on dangerous missions can result in their death. The removal of a pilot means that this mission can be taken on without worrying about the loss of a solider. I'm all for ensuring any and all of our soldiers come home to their family safe and sound and this is a huge advantage for the US, but if there are no men fighting wars, does that mean that the world will see more conflict? Does that mean one nation can inflict horrible losses on their enemy with no repercussion, and therefor assume an overwhelming power to hold nations effectively hostage. Its a difficult question to answer, as we have already seen in human conflict throughout history that old men are willing to send their young men to die in wars, and to be specific World War I but could this result in a willingness to start conflict as opposed to avoiding it? The world has had a unprecedented period of peace in terms of actual world wars, but if the balance of power is tipped could this mean another arms race?

Lastly, it doesn't appear there are many civilian jobs that involve UAV's. Its mostly military, or training military pilots or testing military drones for future operations. As far as future jobs however, this article looks like there are some promising fields for UAV use http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130606-drone-uav-surveillance-unmanned-domicopter-flight-civilian-helicopter/

UAVs will be a part of aviation, it may take a good amount of time for UAV use to reach what some are predicting, or it may only take a few years for UAV's to be used in our everyday life. Only time will tell on how fast the future of aviation evolves.