Domestic drones: What are they good for? - By Patrick Marshall -
Jun 05, 2012 It's a bird! It's a plane! No. It's the Homeland
Security Department. Or maybe the U.S. Geological Survey. Or
maybe the Agriculture Department. The military pioneered
pilotless aircraft for reconnaissance and attack missions. Now
they're coming home, and not just for law enforcement.
Departments and agencies at the federal, state and local levels
are quickly adopting unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) — also
known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — as a cost-effective
and safer alternative to piloted aircraft for many civilian
missions, including inspecting dams and monitoring river erosion
or changes in wildlife populations. Navy UAS program still
flying high despite recent crashes DOD aiming to lift
restrictions on unmanned flights in US airspace The challenge,
say those trying to integrate drones into their agency’s data
collection infrastructure, is ensuring a solid return on the
investment. And to do that, they say, the right eq