Miniature UAV

Bayraktar Mini UAV of the Turkish Land Forces
OnyxStar FOX-C8 XT Observer
Civil Drone OnyxStar FOX-C8-XT Observer with HD optical zoom 30x and Infrared camera in one
An EMT Aladin of the German Army

A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone[1] is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. Smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle.

Miniature UAVs range from micro air vehicles (MAVs) that can be carried by an infantryman, to man-portable UAVs that can be carried and launched like an infantry man-portable air-defense system. The term is usually applied to those used for military purposes. Military miniature UAVs are generally used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) at short range compared to the larger unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle used for medium to long range missions.

SUAVs have been given various definitions among national regulation authorities, often without including size precisions and differing about weight measurement specifications. Those definitions range from less than 2 kg for Canada to less than 25 kg for the United States.[2] EU's SESAR prospective for the 2020 Air Traffic Management rules also proposed less than 25 kg,[3] while UK's CAA stated less than 20 kg.[4]

  1. ^ "SUAV Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration" Archived 25 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center"Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration(SUAV ACTD)". 25 February 2012. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
  2. ^ "2015 FAA SUAS Regulation" (PDF).
  3. ^ "SESAR-reviewed SUAS definition". Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ^ "CAA's SUAS definition".