Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Emerging Legal Issues

Prof. (Dr.) V. Balakista Reddy, Professor of International Law, Registrar and Head, Center of Air and Space Law (CASL)NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

Law follows technology or technological developments necessitate the legal regulations. It is true with the aviation technology. In a span of over a century, aviation technology has expanded its leaps and bounds. Since then, aviation technology has grown at an exponential pace, with the first propeller-driven planes giving way to jets, which have now been surpassed by planes that can fly into space. The ongoing development and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) illustrates well the observation that “law lags science; it does not lead it.” UAVs serve myriad military missions; have also commercial and civilian applications. Military uses include national defense, disaster response, intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance etc,.UAVs have proven their worth on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. UAVs offer a relatively low-cost, low-risk alternative to manned aircraft in the military setting.