Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (or UAV for short) is essentially a term for an aircraft with no pilot on board. Drones are pretty much the classic example here and have become so popular so quickly it’s almost hard to imagine they haven’t always been around. Most UAV’s are piloted remotely by a person on the ground or within visual range, or they are flown remotely from a command center or station of some kind. Some unmanned aerial vehicles might not even require someone at the controls and instead operate on a pre-programmed flight path or pre-determined route.
Are All Drones considered UAV’s?
For the most part yes. If it is an aircraft that flies and there is no pilot on board, then your drone is a UAV and vice versa.
UAV vs UAS vs RPV – What’s the difference?
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
- Unmanned Aerial System
- Remotely Piloted Vehicle
We had a hard time figuring out the specific differences in all these terms and they more or less all refer to the same thing. At the end of the day it almost seems like the language is still changing as the technology evolves, but a lot of it has to do with legal definition. Consider the difference between a military rocket or missile that is being piloted remotely to attack a target as opposed to the quadra copter drone you bought your teenager for their birthday as opposed to the drone outfitted with high definition camera used in Hollywood movies. These are all similar things but the various uses and various terminology might have very different implications under the law or a legal framework.
What Term is the Correct Term?
Again this is hard to really nail down. The ACLU has chosen to stick with the word ‘Drones’ and generally that seems like the best idea for us too. Since these things have become so intensely popular things could change over the next few years, but we’ll have to wait and see. The FAA Website might also be a good place to look but beware the mountains of data available on the subject
Don’t forget – All Drones now have to be Registered