The Future Impact of Unmanned Systems

According to the DOD Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2013-2038, it is expected that the US military will invest $223.9 million in UGSs from 2014 to 2018.  The amount of investment is far less than UMSs and UASs for the same period.  However, the level of impact UGSs may have on society may not directly correlate to the amount of money the US military is expected to invest. 

Google Driverless Car

The civilian sector has an interest in UGSs.  Google has been conducting research in self-driving cars for several years, and according to Dataconomy, “Google expects to have the prototypes ready for public use between 2017 and 2020” (Shad, 2014).  Nissan, Tesla, General Motors, and Ford are also conducting research on self-driving cars and most of the companies plan to have vehicles on the road by 2020.

            The DOD Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2013-2038 indicates that the US military will invest $1.96 billion in UMSs from 2014 to 2018.  UMSs are valuable assets to the military as they compliment current submarine fleets and provide new capabilities.  According to the US Navy, “UUVs increasingly will support anti-submarine warfare operations” (US Navy, 2014).  Captain Paul Ims, the UUV program manager for the US Navy stated, “UUVs and the mission capabilities these systems will deliver are integral components of naval transformation” (Ims 2014). 

          

BlueFin Robots UUV

  The civilian sector has some interest in UMSs.  Oil and gas companies are interested in UUVs to survey ocean floors.  Further, they are inserted in ROVs to inspect underwater drilling operations.  Salvage companies are interested in ROVs to locate and inspect areas of interest.  Researchers and scientists use all available UMS technologies to study maritime environments.  Security companies use USVs for port security.  The overall impact UMSs will have on the civilian sector will be less than that of the UGS promise of self-driving cars.  

            The DOD Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2013-2038 shows that the US military will invest $21.669 billion in UASs from 2014 to 2018.  The large investment in UASs is likely due to President Obama advocacy for drones on the battlefield.  In a speech to the National Defense University President Obama stated, “let us remember that the terrorists we are after target civilians, and the death toll from their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strikes” (Obama, 2014).  The military is becoming increasingly reliant on UASs to conduct airstrikes. 

           

Northrop Grumman X-47B

The FAA currently makes it extremely difficult for civilian UAS companies to provide services.  The FAAs inability to create legislation in the dynamic world of UAS is stalling job growth.  According to the Associated Press, a UAS study has “predicted more than 70,000 civilian jobs would develop in the first three years after the FAA loosens restrictions on U.S. skies” (Kolpack, 2013).   The FAA is expected to establish new regulations in 2015.  The overall impact of UASs in the civilian sector will be enormous. 

            In conclusion, I believe UASs will have the greatest impact on society over the next two decades.  The amount of money the DOD is investing in UASs will not only transform military aviation, but will create thousands of jobs for defense contractors.  Additional jobs will be created after the FAA creates sound UAS legislation.  I expect to see UAS delivery services, police drones, agriculture systems, pollution monitoring, news reporting, and much more.  I hope the long-term applications of UAS technology can revive the dream of the flying car.    

References:

DataConomy (2014). Google’s Self-Driving Cars Expected in 2017. [ONLINE] Available at: http://dataconomy.com/google-self-driving-cars-expected-in-2017/. [Last Accessed 19 December, 2014].

Kolpack, Dave (2014). Where's the Future Aviation Boom? Drone Jobs. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/12/12/wheres-the-future-aviation-boom-drone-jobs/. [Last Accessed 19 December, 2014].

US DOD (2013). Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY 2013-2038 . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.defense.gov/pubs/DOD-USRM-2013.pdf. [Last Accessed 19 December, 2014].

US Navy (2014). US Navy Unveils UUV Master Plan. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_26/uuv.html. [Last Accessed 19 December, 2014].