An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they 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, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.
Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Company, facing financial difficulties, was purchased by Rockwell International in 1973. In 2001, the avionics division of Rockwell International was spun off to form the current Rockwell Collins, Inc, retaining its name.
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971. The company is best known for its lightweight human-powered and solar-powered vehicles. The company is the US military's top supplier of small drones —notably the Raven, Switchblade, Wasp and Puma models.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indigenous launch capabilities, strengthen national safety and public service, industrialize satellite information and applications technology, explore the moon, and develop environmentally-friendly and highly-efficient cutting-edge aircraft and core aerospace technology. Current projects include the KSLV-2 launcher. Past projects include the 1999 Arirang-1 satellite. The agency was founded in 1989. Prior to South Korea's entry into the Institute for Advanced Engineering (IAE) in 1992, it focused primarily on aerospace technology.
KZO is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with stealth characteristics manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space Airborne Solutions GmbH of Germany. Airbus Defence and Space Airborne Solutions GmbH is a joint venture of Airbus Defence and Space and Rheinmetall.
Luna X 2000 is a German unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle in service with the Bundeswehr and produced by EMT Penzberg of Germany.
The UAV Battlelab is a U.S. Air Force flight test and development facility specifically dedicated to developing unmanned aerial vehicles. One of six original Air Force battlelabs established in 1997, this battlelab falls directly under the Air Warfare Center and recently moved to Creech Air Force Base, located near Indian Springs, Nevada from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
Integrated Dynamics is a private company in Pakistan that designs, manufactures and exports various types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). ID also provides consultancy and turn-key project commissioning for UAV systems.
Dr. Imraan Faruque is an American who is most known as a designer and author in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) field. He is the designer responsible for a variety of UAVs, including several currently operational in Iraq, the most well-known being the R-series UAVs which are based on commercial airframes, along with work on Insitu's ScanEagle. These vehicles are normally deployed as a part of reconnaissance missions as they are unarmed but carry either a significant camera or FLIR unit.
The TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries primarily for the Turkish Air Force. Envisioned in the early 2000s for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Anka has evolved into a modular platform with synthetic aperture radar, precise weapons and satellite communication.
The DRDO Rustom is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for the three services, Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force of the Indian Armed Forces. Rustom is derived from the NAL's LCRA developed by a team under the leadership of late Prof Rustom Damania in the 1980s. The UAV will have structural changes and a new engine.
The AeroVironment Wasp III Small Unmanned Aircraft System is a miniature UAV developed for United States Air Force special operations to provide a small, light-weight vehicle to provide beyond-line-of-sight situation awareness. The aircraft is equipped with two on-board cameras to provide real-time intelligence to its operators. It is also equipped with GPS and an Inertial Navigation System enabling it to operate autonomously from takeoff to recovery. It was designed by AeroVironment Inc., and was first added to the Air Force inventory in 2007. There are two Wasp variants: the traditional version that lands on land, and a version that lands into the sea or fresh water. The Air Force accepted the Wasp AE in late May 2012, and the U.S. Marine Corps revealed in January 2013 that they had ordered the Wasp AE. The Wasp AE is designated as the RQ-12A.
FCS/BCT unmanned aerial vehicles was a collection of unmanned aerial vehicles developed under the jurisdiction of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program until it was dissolved and succeeded by the BCT Modernization program.
The UMS Skeldar V-200 is a medium-range VTOL UAV developed by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. The Skeldar can be used for surveillance, intelligence gathering, light cargo transportation, and electronic warfare.
3DR is an American company headquartered in Berkeley, California, that makes enterprise drone software for construction, engineering, and mining firms, along with government agencies.
Global Industrial & Defence Solutions (GIDS) is a Pakistani state-owned defence conglomerate, and the country's largest defence manufacturer, offering products for military applications. Customers include the Pakistan Armed Forces.
An Aerial base station (ABS), also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mounted base station (BS), is a flying antenna system that works as a hub between the backhaul network and the access network. If more than one ABS is involved in such a relaying mechanism the so-called fly ad-hoc network (FANET) is established. FANETs are an aerial form of wireless ad hoc networks (WANET)s or mobile ad hoc networks (MANET)s.
HUST USVs are unmanned surface vehicles developed by Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), and by end of 2021, two USVs have been revealed to be in service:
UAV Navigation is a company based in Madrid, Spain, that specializes in the design and production of guidance, navigation, and control solutions for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The company was established in 2004 and has become one of the most experienced manufacturers of autopilots in Spain. UAV Navigation develops flight control solutions for various types of UAVs, including helicopters, airplanes, and Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs. In addition, the company also designs and manufactures Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS).
