Industry Analysis: Unmanned Aerial Systems

According to Michael Kratsios, Deputy US Technology Officer, and Executive Assistant of President, UASs will contribute to 100,000 new jobs and provide nearly $80 Billion in economic impact in the United States over the next decade, but "errant use poses unique safety and technological challenges" (Kratsios, 2018). It is these two opposing potential results that pit the advocates for fully integrating UASs into the National Airspace System against those that warn for caution and separation. The profit potential of being the market leader in a new industry clashes with an already established manned system that is recovering from years of losses following September 11, 2002, and regulatory agencies whose mission is the safe and efficient utilization of airspace, particularly of existing manned aviation, clashes with users who want unrestricted and free access at any time and may not necessarily understand the regulatory environment of the complex airspace system they want to occupy. UAS sales are growing irrespective of this, with sales doubling annually from 2013 to 2017, reaching an estimated 2.4 million units sold in the US in 2017 (Scott, 2017) (Meola, The Rise of the Drone Industry, 2017).