Drones, unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV), unmanned aircraft system (UAS), remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)
or autonomous aircraft; they go by a variety of names and have a variety of
features but whatever you call them what we are talking about are combat
aircraft with no people in them.
There are those who believe that they herald a
revolution in Air Power (people who care about these things always use capitals
when writing about Air Power). The truth is that like most military
revolutions, particularly those based on new technology, more is promised then
can be delivered. Drones bring little that is new to air warfare other then the
promise of lower casualties, at least among the fliers. In terms of effects
they are not much different from piloted aircraft. Already the siren call of
lower cost is fading under the harsh light of reality. It turns out that it
costs just as much to fly and maintain a modern drone as it does any other
aircraft and the longer hours that can be flown by these aircraft make up for
any savings to be found in not employing pilots.
One new capability that drones do bring to the
application of Air Power is persistence. Formerly the preserve of Navies and
Armies it is now possible for aircraft to maintain a long term presence. Once
nations used the ability of warships to remain off the coast of an adversary to
influence events, now it is possible to imagine an aircraft in international
airspace maintaining station for long periods adjacent to “countries of
interest” for the same purpose.
Oddly enough it is the legal ramifications of
their use, rather then technical issues, that may be the greatest
limit on the use of drones. Nobody knows who will be responsible in the event
of a crash, mid-air collision, or death resulting from the misuse of munitions. To deal with some of these issues some manufactures are even
designing optionally piloted aircraft. A pilot can take responsibility on the
way to the war and after that it’s up to the lawyers.
Until someone, or some responsible organization, decides the answers to these
questions, the use of drones is going to be strictly limited in any non
war-zones.
It’s interesting to consider that if these
legal issues should be settled in a manner that suits the manufacturers and the
courts it will create a new age of air travel. Private aviation would take off,
literally, in a world in which non-pilots could dial in a destination and leave
all the flying to the autopilot. If this is the case then paradoxically one of the most
important effects of the development of unmanned aircraft may be to increase
the number of people flying.
