What Is a UAV? Definition and Types

A UAV is an unmanned aerial vehicle: an aircraft with no one on board that can be flown remotely or fly autonomously. The letters stand for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

Really understanding what a UAV is goes well beyond a short definition, though, and new segments and definitions for these aircraft keep appearing to this day. Drones are by far the most popular and the best-selling of them.

In fact, you can learn a lot more about UAVs from what they can do. Because they can do much more than just fly.

Hobbyists are mostly drawn to amateur photography and video. UAVs are especially useful for that, but drones can offer a lot more.

What UAVs are used for

Whether you’ve bought a drone or you’re thinking about building your own, you can get a better feel for UAVs by looking at what each of them can be used for in commercial applications.

To list just a few of their uses:

• Professional photography and video
• Construction and structural inspections
• Land surveying
• Real estate sales
• Agricultural advances and automation
• Environmental and ecological applications
• Emergency services
• Law enforcement
• Military operations
• Logistics operations
• Remote sensing
• Atmospheric science
• Journalism and filmmaking

Commercial drone applications are advancing at a pace that’s hard to keep up with, but the list above gives you a good overview of what UAVs can do.

These are some of the possibilities that unmanned aerial vehicles, or simply drones, can offer.

Types of UAVs

Here are some of the types of unmanned vehicles out there and the jobs they do.

Military drones

The best-known military UAV or drone is the Predator, which you’ve probably heard about on the news. It’s a military drone built in the United States and used mainly in the war on terror after September 11, in missions over Afghanistan.

These high-tech Predator drones, flown by operators far from the dangers of combat, can carry out reconnaissance, combat and support missions on the battlefield.

The Predator was retired in early 2018 by the U.S. Air Force itself.

Police drones: the example of Spain’s Guardia Civil

Police forces use drones too. In Spain, for example, the Guardia Civil acquired several drones and named its team of drone pilots Pegaso.

One of the Guardia Civil’s drone teams is tasked with monitoring the airspace around Madrid-Barajas Airport and the surrounding region, making sure no drone flies in restricted airspace such as the airport itself or the Getafe air base, among other areas.

With so many aircraft in the sky these days, it’s clear the Guardia Civil didn’t want to fall behind. There have been several cases of drone incursions in different parts of the world, some of them causing accidents.

What we always recommend here is to check the current laws in each country and region and to take the safety precautions each situation calls for.

The Pegaso team has also taken part in other kinds of operations, such as monitoring music festivals, helping to make those events safer for the people attending.

So the next time you go to a big event, don’t be surprised if you spot a security drone overhead.

Spy drones

With today’s drones flying autonomously and being so sophisticated, it’s hard not to associate them with words like espionage.

As we saw above, these drones have been used for different kinds of military tasks without putting troops in danger.

Today there are also many “spy drones” made for kids. They’re meant for playing with friends, not for spying on other people, since that’s regulated and punishable by law.

With these drones, kids can use their imagination and get started in the world of UAVs and quadcopters. They’re called spy drones because of their camera and the functions they can perform remotely.

Tell us in the comments what you think these aircraft could be useful for. See you in the next post!