Thanks to recent advances in key areas such as information technology, robotics, optronics, radar imaging and data transmission, UAVs (for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are rightly playing a more and more significant role in aeronautics and defence activities. For the moment, UAVs are mainly utilised for military missions (observation, electromagnetic positioning, targeting, etc.), which constitute the bulk of the global market. However, numerous applications linked to domestic security or civil missions could emerge in the future once problems linked to the integration of UAVs into general air traffic and their excessive operating costs have been resolved.

Dossier no. 25 sets out the different UAV systems, identifies their current military missions and possible civil applications, and puts forward some recommendations for the future development of these systems.