The use of drones for armed conflict has tended to draw a good deal of scrutiny and indeed criticism, but drones have potential uses far beyond combat. This chapter, which returns the focus to aerial drones because of where many of the developments have...
Over the last decade, the United States went from having unarmed surveillance drones to sophisticated armed drones capable of conducting prolonged surveillance and then killing the target. This chapter will take stock of those developments by answering a number of questions that provide context...
As earlier chapters suggest, the United States has been, by far, the country leading the use of armed drones. Having used drones first in Afghanistan in 2001, in Yemen in 2002, then in Pakistan in 2004, the United States has come to rely on...
Not a day goes by without another spectacular story about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones: Amazon announces it will deliver packages via drones, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) worries that drones given as holiday gifts will become safety hazards as...
The next phase of development in unmanned technologies is likely to take place in micro/nanoscale technologies or autonomous systems, both of which stand to change the way drones are used and which each present a new set of debates. As Vice puts...
Until this point, the discussion has focused on drones as unmanned aerial technology. This is consistent with how the term “drone” is conventionally used. It is also consistent with the way many countries have channeled their unmanned resources. The United States’ unmanned...