Flights of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are likely to outstrip those of manned commercial aircraft in the United States by 2035, with projections calling for expanded UAS roles in new areas such as the transportation of cargo, package delivery and flight crew augmentation.
Those roles, however, will only be possible after the industry deals with numerous challenges, including crowded skies and other safety concerns; regulatory and policy issues; privacy and related social considerations; and environmental issues such as noise and emissions.
A collection of reports issued in recent months by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the U.S. Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) describe the tasks likely to be taken on by UAS and the challenges that the industry must overcome.1,2,3
Historically, UAS have been military aircraft, used primarily in war zones an…
