Military Drones vs. Commercial Drones

Commercial drones were born from the era of military drones that emerged almost a century ago.

The first military drone

Kettering-bug Drone

The first military drone was created back in the early 1920’s. The drone was nicknamed the “Kettering Bug”.  It was a paper-winged missile run off a Ford engine with 40 horsepower. While the Kettering Bug was a crude version of what a drone would one day become, it was still considered an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
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The DH-82B Queen Bee

Developed in 1935, the DH-82B Queen Bee was developed for aerial target practice.  It was the first returnable and reusable drone. It was developed by the U.K. Royal Navy, and was radio controlled. The DH-82B UAV was a retrofitted biplane, made of spruce and plywood. The range of a Queen Bee was approximately 300 miles, and it could fly as high as 17,000 feet, at a speed of over 100 mph. There were 380 Queen Bees in circulation, and they were retired in 1947.

Military Surveillance Drones

By the Vietnam War, military drones were fully in use for surveillance purposes, and were also the first armed drones used in wartime by the United States.

The BWM-34A drone flew a grand total of 3,500 missions during the Vietnam war. Of these 3500, the US lost about 550 drones to the Vietnamese Army using them as target practice. The drones of the Vietnam era were launched from under manned aircraft wings, and were equipped with surveillance cameras, but could also drop missiles on the enemy, making them quite versatile UAVs. Once they landed, they were usually retrieved by helicopter missions specifically for the purpose of drone retrieval.

While the Vietnam era drones were quite primitive compared to today’s military reconnaissance drones, they paved the way for the military drones that are in use today.

Military Drone Use Today

The use of UAVs has now become central to national security, and the U.S. has become the leader in remote targeted killings for the purposes of combatting terrorism. Size really doesn’t matter though. Drones of all sizes essentially perform the same operations: providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Currently, there are several different varieties of drone in use by the U.S. military, from hand-thrown Ravens, to the Global Hawk- an Air Force drone that can reach altitudes of up to 60,000 feet. This year alone, it is estimated that the funding for drone use by the military will exceed $3 billion. There are now over 11,000 drones in the U.S. military’s arsenal, and many of them contain and deploy weapons.

Today, there are approximately 86 countries around the world that have drone capabilities – both armed and unarmed.

The Commercial Drone Industry

Beyond the battlefield, drones have crossed over from exclusive military use, and have infiltrated the mainstream. Today drones are used both recreationally and commercially. The question though- when did that crossover happen?

The answer might surprise you, considering how popular privatized use of drones has become in recent years. In 2006, U.S. Border Patrol was one of the first non-military agencies to utilized drones in the private sector. Though a public agency, this was a huge step in the crossover from military use to commercial use for drones in the U.S.

It wasn’t until August 2016 that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the use of drones for recreational and commercial use legally in U.S. airspace. Up until that moment, any unmanned flights had to be approved on a case by case basis, thus causing a bit of a delay in the evolution of the commercial drone industry.

Did Hobbyists Establish the Commercial Drone Industry?

There is some validity to the argument that UAV hobbyists, at least the serious ones, were the catalyst for the development of the commercial drone industry. At the inception of drones into the private sector, the use of drones was reserved for only those that could afford to purchase and maintain the unreachable technology. Cost was definitely a factor.

As the hobbyist groups gained more access to non-military drones, the interest of industry followed, and commercial use was born into reality.

Industries that use Drones Today

By 2016, at least 9 different industries were utilizing drones for commercial use:

· Media

Film and television are utilizing drones to cover everything from news, to production of TV and movies. There really isn’t a facet of the media industry that drones have not been useful for.

· Real estate

While drones in real estate are mostly used for marketing purposes, utilizing aerial videos that provide sweeping views of property listings, this industry also uses drones for everyday task such as: home inspections, mapping of property lines, master planning and property development and appraisal of properties.

· Search and rescue

The use of drones for search and rescue allows drones to cover large areas of land, minimizing the need for human numbers. Infrared technology is currently a new technology, and drones can not only go many places that humans cannot, but accomplish the mission at much higher rates.

· Law enforcement

Many law enforcement agencies utilize drones for surveillance purposes, border patrols, searching for fugitives, and much more.

· Agriculture

Drones provide a birds-eye view of crops for farmers that can give a good indication of the health of crops. They can also monitor livestock from an aerial point of view as well. Soon, unmanned aircraft will be able to irrigate and crop-dust, providing automated help.

· Engineering

The ability for a drone to create 3D models and provide aerial imaging that can help with things such as inspections and repairs offers a great deal of assistance to the engineering industry.

· Construction

Commercial drones can help mitigate waste, as well as monitor progress of construction jobs. The ability to collect data and manage job sites remotely makes drones a great tool for project managers in construction.

· Mining

The mining industry uses drones for data collection and reduces risk by minimizing time that human staff need to spend on site. They help with planning, surveying land, and management of mining operations.

· Private Security

The private security sector uses drones for surveillance. While privacy is a concern, there will soon be more drone-specific legislation in place to help security companies manage drone use.

Now, drone technology has grown so rapidly that the sky is literally the limit when it comes to commercial drone use.

To Succeed and Grow In the Drone Industry

To succeed and grow, commercial drones will need to continue to meet the needs of the industries that drones serve.

Current projections estimate that the impact of commercial drones on the U.S. economy could be a staggering $82 billion dollars, and bring over 100,000 jobs by the year 2025. Imagine the possibilities!

As drone technology evolves, and the cost of drones declines, hardware and software will be important considerations in commercial drones. Essentially, the question will be: What can this drone do for my business?

As customization options hit the market, and it becomes less expensive to customize to meet consumer needs, a new door will be unlocked so that commercial drones will be able to perform just about any task imaginable.