Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have frequently been involved in military operations. Non-military UAVs have often been reported as causing hazards to aircraft, or to people or property on the ground. Safety concerns have been raised due to the potential for an ingested drone to rapidly disable an aircraft engine,[1] and several near-misses and verified collisions have involved hobbyist drone operators flying in violation of aviation safety regulations.[1][2]
UAVs have historically had a much higher loss rate than manned military aircraft. In addition to anti-aircraft weapons, UAVs are vulnerable to power and communications link losses.[3]
Although they malfunction less often than they used to, they still crash at a higher rate than other military aircraft. Of the 269 Predators acquired by the Air Force over the past two decades, more than half have wrecked in major accidents, records show.