Key Terms

To really understand the role of UAV's and why they are such a key element in today's military, it is helpful to have a base understanding of some terms that are associated with these aircraft.

First is UAV itself. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is the term used to describe aircraft that do not have a pilot inside of the plane.
Autonomous flight is a term used to describe certain types of UAV's that can be pre-programmed with a mission and then sent on their way without any further guidance from a human.
A Pilot is a human that is in control of the aircraft, either from inside the cockpit or remotely from a safe location.
Some UAV's are sent on Reconnaissance missions which means that the aircraft with fly to a target location and take aerial photographs for further study and analysis.
Surveillance is similar to reconnaissance, but differs in that instead of taking static pictures of a target, the aircraft with continue to fly around a target and monitor any changes or movement.

These few terms help to understand some of the roles that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have and how they operate.