Coverage

Applications and Operations

How platform, payload, support, and environment choices shape inspection, survey, monitoring, and hazardous work.

System selection
Mission support
Cross-domain operations

Technical composition connecting an unmanned platform, operator, and mission data

Cross-domain reporting

Current analysis for this beat.

NASA's Ikhana remotely piloted aircraft flying toward the camera during a 2018 detect-and-avoid flight campaign over California

Photo: NASA / Ken Ulbrich

Air SystemsAugust 31, 202611 min read

Detect and Avoid for Civil Drones: A Practical Guide to DAA Architecture

How civil drone teams can compare cooperative surveillance, radar, optical, acoustic, ground-based, and hybrid detect-and-avoid architectures.

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Yellow Osprey MK-III uncrewed aircraft on a runway before an alternative-navigation flight test at Eglin Air Force Base in 2025

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.

Air SystemsAugust 31, 202612 min read

GNSS-Denied Navigation for Unmanned Aircraft: What Replaces GPS?

GNSS-denied aircraft do not replace GPS with one sensor. Learn how inertial, visual, terrain, radio, and integrity layers form a resilient navigation stack.

The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

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NOAA remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer illuminating a rocky seafloor during a 2025 dive 4,755 meters below the surface

Photo: NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2025 Beyond the Blue

Maritime and UnderwaterAugust 31, 202613 min read

ROV vs. AUV vs. Underwater Glider: Choosing the Right Platform

Choose between an ROV, a powered AUV, and an underwater glider by matching control, endurance, payload, data, recovery, and support needs.

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