In aviation, a drone is an unmanned aircraft: it carries no pilot on board. Its size, payload and operating arrangement can vary, and it may be remotely piloted or use autonomous functions. The word identifies the aircraft, while those variable features describe the particular design and the way it is operated.
The wider unmanned aircraft system, or UAS, includes the aircraft and the equipment used to control it remotely. FAA terminology describes three core elements: the unmanned aircraft, a control station and a data link. This wider term covers both the flying aircraft and the remote-control arrangement connected to it.
The aircraft and the wider system
The distinction becomes useful when the parts are described. The unmanned aircraft is the flying element. The control station belongs to the remote-control side, and the data link provides the connection between that side and the aircraft. A reference to the drone can therefore concern the aircraft, while a reference to its UAS can include the station and link as well.
Unmanned aircraft systems can include different associated support, payload, launch, recovery and control equipment. Those features vary by system. The list identifies kinds of equipment that may accompany the three core elements and leaves the actual combination to the particular UAS. Its associated equipment can be described alongside its aircraft, control station and data link.
Size, payload and operating arrangement supply different information about the aircraft concerned. Size and payload describe features of the particular design, while the operating arrangement identifies whether remote piloting or autonomous functions are involved. Those details can vary even though the aircraft remains the element identified as the drone.
Remote piloting and autonomous functions
Remote piloting and autonomous functions are two possibilities within unmanned operation. In a remotely piloted arrangement, the pilot remains outside the aircraft and uses the remote-control side of the system. Autonomous functions can also be present, but their place in the operating arrangement depends on the aircraft system. In either operating arrangement, the aircraft remains the element identified as the drone.
When a description shifts from drone to UAS, its scope widens from the aircraft to the connected control equipment and any associated elements included in that system. The distinction shows whether a statement concerns the flying vehicle, the means used to control it remotely or the wider arrangement in which it operates.
