The UK Ministry of Defence is under severe financial pressures. To use the vernacular: the department is flat broke. Reductions are under way in personnel, materiel and equipment. Despite this straitened context however, there is a growing consensus that the size and scope of the UK fleet of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) will continue to expand for the foreseeable future. This is certainly the view espoused by the government in the Strategic Defence and Security Review and by most defence commentators. Industry suppliers view the development of UAS as a new and growing market opportunity in a landscape otherwise dominated by cuts to defence procurement spending - and there are other potential applications in commercial, security and law enforcement roles. While there are great expectations for a continued rise in the role of UAS, there is a distinct lack of strategic vision in this area. But what advantages do UAS bring and what future missions might they deliver? What might be the vision for UAS capability post-Afghanistan? And finally, what are the key issues that must be addressed?
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