Drones

Drones

Drones are also known as remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), small unmanned aircraft (SUA) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS). They are, in essence, small aircraft that do not have a human pilot sitting on-board; rather, control comes from remote pre-flight, and on-flight, programming and operation.

See Practice Note: UK drones—tracker for a summary of key UK legislative proposals, consultations and other publications relating to drones. For EU developments, see Practice Note: EU drones—tracker.

Drone use and regulation

Historically, the term drone was used to describe remote controlled aircraft which were used for military purposes, such as surveillance and counter-terrorism. However, the term is now also used to describe remote controlled aircraft used for commercial and recreational purposes.

Commercial drone use has become popular across many major sectors and industries, as drones are able to operate for long periods of time in areas that are difficult or dangerous for humans to access. Examples of their use include:

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in agriculture—where drones are used for: crop, herd and irrigation monitoring; variable rate fertilizing and spraying; weed/vegetation identification and mapping; and climate monitoring (in greenhouses)
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in the

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