ABSTRACT
Th e utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. Th e military has employed UAVs for a number of years now in missions that are deemed too “dull, dirty, or dangerous” for manned aircraft . Systems such as the USAF Predator and U.S. Army Shadow are successfully deployed and have aided the U.S. Armed Forces in reconnaissance, surveillance, and even weapons deployment in theaters such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo. Th is growth is expected to continue as civil, commercial, and private sectors begin to adopt UAVs for missions including, but not limited to, search and rescue, border patrol, homeland security, agricultural crop management, and communications relay. Such uses will benefi t all by helping keep citizens safer, automating tedious jobs, and adding to the convenience of everyday life.
