Unmanned Aerial Systems

From at least 1900 – present, UAVs have typically been used by various military organizations around the world. Examples include an early remote boat/torpedo invented during the Spanish-American War. Immediately prior to World War I, American scientists tested the use of aerial “torpedoes”. The first documented instance of the term drone, was related to the “Queen Bee” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, developed by the British during World War II, for anti-aircraft defense and target practice. One of the most well-known instances of UAV was the German V-1 rocket. In the 1960’s and 1970’s Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), became widely used by the US military, a tradition that continues to this day (Newcome, 2004). At present, particularly in the context of the post-9/11 era, the use of drones is widely known and documented.

In a 2012 study, the Teal Group predicts worldwide UAV market will total $89 billion over the next decade. Additionally, the Teal Group projects that the US will account for 62% of worldwide research and development spending, and 55% of procurement spending (PR Newswire. 2011). In the modern battlefield, small UAS can be deployed by hand, and controlled via an Xbox controller and a visual headset (Carr, 2013). With the advent of these smaller, simpler and cheaper systems, the use of UAS in both military and non-military scenarios will certainly grow. According to Carr (2013), there are many sectors in the United States that are already either developing or using UAS technology.

Buczkowski (2016) notes that agriculture is primed to be one of the fields most able to leverage UAV technology and value. Training students in the use of UAS, particularly in agriculture, and earth sciences can be instrumental in assisting students to find employment opportunities in the evolving field of UAS.

Literature Cited

Buczkowski, Aleks. “Breakdown of Drone Remote Sensing Sensors.” Geoawesomeness. Geoawesomeness, 07 Nov. 2016. Web. Nov. 2016.

Carr, Evan Baldwin. 2013. “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:Examining the Safety, Security, Privacy and Regulatory Issues of Integration into U.S. Airspace.”

Newcombe, Lawrence. 2004. “Unmanned Aviation: A Brief History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

PR Newswire. 2011. “Teal Group Predicts Worldwide UAV Market Will Total $89 Billion in Its 2012…”