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An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as an aerial drone or simply drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers on board, which instead is either autonomous or controlled remotely.

UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, area coverage, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, weather observation, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is defined as a "powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload". A missile with a warhead is generally not considered a UAV because the vehicle itself is a munition, but certain types of propeller-based missile are often called "kamikaze drones" by the public and media. The US FAA now defines any unmanned flying craft as a UAV regardless of mass. Similar terms are remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and remotely piloted aerial vehicle (RPAV). UAVs and RPAVs can also be seen as components of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), which also include ground-based controllers and systems of communications with the aircraft. UAS was adopted by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2005 according to their Unmanned Aircraft System Roadmap 2005–2030. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the British Civil Aviation Authority adopted this term, also used in the European Union's Single European Sky (SES) Air Traffic Management (ATM) Research (SESAR Joint Undertaking) roadmap for 2020. Similar terms are unmanned aircraft vehicle system (UAVS) and remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). In common usage, drone is often applied to both military and civilian UAVs, while technical and regulatory documents may prefer terms such as UAV, UAS, RPAS, or uncrewed aircraft. The term uncrewed is sometimes used rather than unmanned when referring to UAVs. For recreational uses, an aerial photography drone has first-person video, autonomous capabilities, or both.

UAVs may be classified like any other aircraft, according to design configuration such as weight or engine type, maximum flight altitude, degree of operational autonomy, operational role, etc. According to the United States Department of Defense, UAVs are classified into five categories below:

ICAO classifies unmanned aircraft as either remotely piloted aircraft or fully autonomous.

Military's unmanned aerial systems (UAS) classification of UAVs based on weight, maximum altitude and speed of the UAV component.

The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849, with a balloon carrier (the precursor to the aircraft carrier) in the first offensive use of air power in naval aviation. Other British unmanned developments followed, leading to the fleet of over 400 de Havilland 82 Queen Bee aerial targets that went into service in 1935.

In 2006, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed the usage of unmanned aerial vehicles inside civilian airspace with specific regulations, laying out legal groundwork for consumer drone usage inside the United States.

Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle are used for reconnaissance, attack, demining, and target practice. By 2025, Ukraine and Russia had both established their own dedicated UAV military commands, named the "Unmanned Systems Forces" (literally "Pilotless Systems Forces").

The malicious use of UAVs has led to the development of counter unmanned air system (C-UAS) technologies.

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles is becoming increasingly regulated by the civil aviation authorities of individual countries.

Quick Facts

• Similar terms are unmanned aircraft vehicle system (UAVS) and remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS).
• Similar terms are remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and remotely piloted aerial vehicle (RPAV).
• UAS was adopted by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2005 according to their Unmanned Aircraft System Roadmap 2005–2030.
• UAVs and RPAVs can also be seen as components of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), which also include ground-based controllers and systems of communications with the aircraft.
• These include aerial photography, area coverage, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, weather observation, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Unmanned aerial vehicle". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.