A drone by any other name...

Drone

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is the famous Shakespearean quote from Romeo and Juliet. The quote is from Juliet who states that a name (Romeo’s last name) does not reflect someone’s (or something’s) basic qualities. The word “drone” and its international variations have become ubiquitous for describing a type of aircraft that will soon become a commonplace feature of urban, rural, and interior spaces. However, there is no universal agreement on what they should be called. It is a common misconception that the term ‘drone’ comes from either the bee-like humming sound of the propellers or a pejorative term for a worker who (or device that) follows a set (programmed) routine. The term actually has a much more colorful aviation origin. In 1935, the English army converted a full-size biplane to be remotely flown as an aerial target to train ground gunners in how to shoot down enemy aircraft. The British named the De Havilland aircraft the “Queen Bee.” An American naval officer invited to view the training exercises returned to the States and recommended that the U.S. military conduct a similar program. In honor of the British “Queen Bee” (and other aircraft named “Queen”), the U.S. military referred to their aircraft as “drones,” the bees that serve the queen. This term appeared in Popular Science in 1946 and was adopted by the general public immediately. Today variations of ‘drone’ are used worldwide. However, professional private sector and military remote pilots often find the term ‘drone’ unprofessional and uncomplimentary.

Unmanned Aircraft System

As the variations in type, size, and function of these aircraft have evolved, the term ‘drone‘ has proven too vague for laws and regulations. In 2005, the Federal Aviation Administration adopted the term ‘unmanned aircraft system (UAS).’ An Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) has three components:

• an autonomous or human-operated control system which is usually on the ground or a ship but may be on another airborne platform;
• An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV);
• A command and control (C2) system - sometimes referred to as a communication, command and control (C3) system - to link the two.

This term has also been adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and many other aviation organizations.

The term ‘unmanned aircraft system’ is archaic since “unmanned” is both gender-specific and partially inaccurate. Suggested alternatives to retain the acronym have been ‘uncrewed, ‘uninhabited,’ and ‘unoccupied.’ While more in-line with gender equality, these are relatively obscure and not officially adopted for national or international regulation. While there is no person on board, the aircraft are ‘manned’ (piloted) remotely. There is also some ambiguity in whether or not the term is the singular ‘unmanned aircraft system’ or the plural ‘unmanned aircraft systems.’ The former refers to an actual system of aircraft, pilot, control equipment, and communication; the latter refers to the technology, but these are often interchanged and incorrectly applied to just the aircraft.

The term ‘unmanned aerial vehicle’ is also odd in that the word ‘aircraft’ was replaced by ‘aerial vehicle’ without any rationale. Nevertheless, all U.S. national and international airspace regulations use the terms ‘unmanned aircraft systems’ and ‘unmanned aerial vehicles.’ These terms are not widely known by the general public which views ‘drones’ as either small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs weighing less than 55 pounds) or large-scale unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) such as the General Atomics Predator and Reaper.

Describing something by what it is not, has the same linguistic logic as an early reference to the ‘horseless carriage’ that ultimately became the ‘automobile.’ Similarly, ‘unmanned aircraft’ can be referred to as ‘autonomous aircraft’ with varying degrees of autonomy.

Advanced Air Mobility Vehicle

An emerging subcategory of UAS is the autonomous aircraft under development for personal and cargo transportation. These ‘urban air mobility’ (UAM) and ‘rural air mobility’ (RAM) vehicles are typically electric vertical and takeoff aircraft and include the iconic flying cars and air taxis. NASA has recently combined these terms along with UAS and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles into ‘advanced air mobility (AAM).' [These aircraft are referred to as 'innovative air mobility' in the European Union.]

Optionally Piloted Vehicle

Current technology (such as DARPA ALIAS) has advanced far enough to make any aircraft into a UAS. A wide variety of small airplanes and helicopters have already been converted to UAS, and the avionics and robotics used for these could be applied to any other aircraft. A common term for these is ‘optionally piloted vehicle (OPV).'

There are more than 20 terms for UAS including the antiquated “flying machine” and more logical ‘remotely piloted aircraft system.’* This number will likely increase rather than coalesce around a single term, and so we have “A drone by many other names.”

*A comprehensive Advanced Air Mobility Dictionary (formerly the Drone Dictionary) with UAS terms, acronyms and slang can be downloaded at https://aviationplanning.design.blog/advanced-air-mobility/