A hierarchical system for supporting operations of unmanned aircraft, the system comprising: a higher level server; a first lower level server in direct communication with the higher level server; and a control station in direct communication with the first lower level server, wherein the control station is configured to: control flight operations of an unmanned aircraft; acquire flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft; and provide updates to the first lower level server regarding the flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft, and wherein the first lower level server is configured to: process the flight information and position information received from the control station; and provide updates to the higher level server regarding the flight information and position information received from the control station, wherein the higher level server is further configured to establish an interface with a situation awareness information system for manned aircraft, the higher level server and the situation awareness information system jointly providing an integrated situation awareness information system for both manned and unmanned aircraft, wherein integrated situation awareness information is made available to the control station; characterized in that the system further comprises at least one additional lower level server located at a different geographical region than the first lower level server, wherein the higher level server is configured to facilitate communications between the first lower level server and the at least one additional lower level server, forming a network of servers that shares flight information and position information received by each of the first lower level server and the at least one additional lower level server, and wherein the network of servers enables the first lower level server to serve as a proxy server to the at least one additional lower level server during a handover process when the unmanned aircraft travels from the geographical region served by the first lower level server into the geographical region served by the at least one additional lower level server thereby enabling the ground control station to maintain control during the handover. a higher level server; a first lower level server in direct communication with the higher level server; and a control station in direct communication with the first lower level server, wherein the control station is configured to: control flight operations of an unmanned aircraft; acquire flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft; and provide updates to the first lower level server regarding the flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft, and control flight operations of an unmanned aircraft; acquire flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft; and provide updates to the first lower level server regarding the flight information and position information of the unmanned aircraft, and wherein the first lower level server is configured to: process the flight information and position information received from the control station; and wherein the higher level server is further configured to establish an interface with a situation awareness information system for manned aircraft, the higher level server and the situation awareness information system jointly providing an integrated situation awareness information system for both manned and unmanned aircraft, wherein integrated situation awareness information is made available to the control station; characterized in that the system further comprises at least one additional lower level server located at a different geographical region than the first lower level server, wherein the higher level server is configured to facilitate communications between the first lower level server and the at least one additional lower level server, forming a network of servers that shares flight information and position information received by each of the first lower level server and the at least one additional lower level server, and wherein the network of servers enables the first lower level server to serve as a proxy server to the at least one additional lower level server during a handover process when the unmanned aircraft travels from the geographical region served by the first lower level server into the geographical region served by the at least one additional lower level server thereby enabling the ground control station to maintain control during the handover.