The World Leaps Into Drones—Except Us!

March 19, 2014
Make no mistake—UAS are going to be huge

I’m mad as a wet hen and you should be too!

According to everything I read, see and hear, the rest of the world is leaping into drones—or, more appropriately, Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS)—faster than teenagers can eat French fries while we lag behind. East and West speed ahead while we sit still.

It isn’t because we can’t build them or don’t want them—it’s because our guvmint is dragging its heels. We basically have no rules, regs or laws to govern who can do what with commercial UAS.

Why is this true? Well, some say it’s because it’s such a vast and unknown field. Yes, it certainly is, and that’s all the more reason we should be at the forefront.

One guvmint official said on video that the guvmint worries about citizen privacy with all those camera-toting UAS flying overhead. I’ll repeat that: Our guvmint is worried about citizen privacy. How much sense does that make? They certainly don’t worry about such when they—the guvmint—are listening in on taps and hacking private computers to an extent not even possible a few years back.

Note that our guvmint loves UAS when said guvmint owns and operates them. It’s just when the free market wants to invest, build and sell UAS that the guvmint gets persnickety.

I have my own theories—or perhaps I should say I have my own fears. Could it be that our guvmint—in its infinite wisdom—wants to keep this huge new field to itself? Is the guvmint afraid of UAS being developed by other than the guvmint? Do you think for a moment that this guvmint is above that? I don’t.

Make no mistake—UAS are going to be huge. That’s one thing on which everyone seems to agree. We could be—should be—at the leading edge and will be if the guvmint ever gets off the backs of our free marketers and turns them loose.