Publication

The paper argues that military and civil government agencies will likely be the predominant customers of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for an extended period while such systems are integrated into the US National Airspace System. The US Department of Defense (DOD), the major user of such systems, has demonstrated their effectiveness in Iraq and Afghanistan, but continued development of new systems and capabilities depends on access to the national airspace. DOD has made such access a priority, and the 112th Congress directed that federal agencies collaborate in accelerating the integration of UAS into the national airspace.