Drones: A Case Study

Existing regulations for drones: Until recently drone that were sold to consumers were not regulated (Pomerleau, 2015). What that means is that the FAA had not released any information on how the use of a drone, by a member of the general public could be used, what the general public shouldn’t be used for, and also what the punishments would be should a consumer choose not to follow regulations (Pomerleau, 2015). As of February 2015, the FAA has release some oversight guidelines on how consumers should be handling drone (Pomerleau, 2015). The guidelines release in February are too provide some guidelines in how a consumer should use a drone until further regulations are developed (FAA Streamlines UAS COAs for Section 333, 2015). Of those …show more content…
Until further development of additional technologies, a lot of drones in the hands of the public will be grounded (Pomerleau, 2015). Over time, these regulations are slated to change because of future developments of the technology, such as “sense and avoid” capabilities (Pomerleau, 2015). In the end, the FAA would like for all drones to have avoidance control technology on-board, that’s even for the smaller commercial drones available on the market (Pomerleau, 2015). The FAA would also like for the users of drones to always be in control of their aircraft (Pomerleau, 2015). Where today, you do have to be in the line of sight of a drone that is in use, the goal is that technology will allow the user of the drone to have control of the vehicle even if it’s not in sight, or should the connection from the receiver to the craft be disrupted (Pomerleau, …show more content…
There are four real issues surrounding the use of drones during times of war: who controls any weapons onboard, does the control of the drone violate any international laws, are the uses of a drone proportionate to the effectiveness of the military exercise and the type of conflict, and does the use of the drove violate any national boundaries that are already in place (Kennedy, 2013). While these issues are discussed within the US political system, there is a lack of accountability for the use of drones that the US owns, and the lack of discussion on how to legal and political stance toward drones (Kennedy, 2013). By adding “sense and avoid” capabilities to more drones, that’s just going to make the this discussion more critical because then there is really no accountability for who is controlling the drone, besides who allowed it to take off and told it where to