Drone

An unmanned aerial vehicle, often called a drone, is an aircraft that is not operated by a pilot on board.

Drones may have an onboard computer to take care of adjustments to wind and changes in air pressure. Sometimes they are programmed to a particular target. Important decisions are usually supervised by people on the ground communicating by radio.

Large UAVs are mostly used by military forces, for example for reconnaissance. Some of them are programmed to be a target, to be shot at. A few carry weapons for unmanned combat. Drones also have civilian uses, such as firefighting or taking photographs.

Drones come in different sizes. Wingspans range from a few centimetres to about , the size of regular, manned aircraft.

Photographers mount cameras on drones for aerial photography. Google has built and tested drones, for delivery of merchandise.Stewart, Jack 2014. Google tests drone deliveries in Project Wing trials. BBC News Technology.  Some people use them in drone racing. Private drones are sometimes called a nuisance, even a danger. In many countries they are forbidden near cities and airports and other things.

There is an industry that makes and sells equipment for automatic tracking and detection of UAVs; There are commercial cameras that can track and detect some activity by UAVS.

 Related pages
Combat drone

 References