Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in the most literal definition, are powered aerial vehicles, which do not carry humans, can be either remote-controlled by human operators or operate under its own computer control, and can carry lethal or nonlethal payloads (i.e., weapons and sensors). They must use aerodynamic forces in conjunction with their power plant. There is an assumption there will be at least one-way, if not two-way, communications between people and the UAV.

In practice, a UAV has to be considered as a system containing the actual vehicles, the remote control or programming facilities, communications links with the UAV, and qualified personnel to run the entire system. From a human factors standpoint, it is a telepresence application.

UAVs are not generally considered precision-guided munitions, although the distinction blurs when considering expendable UAVs. This gets quite blurry when trying to decide if an advanced cruise missile, which can get in-flight course changes, or can send back information indicating if it hit the target. One example of the latter is a cruise missile that deploys a television camera on a trailing cable, with the camera existing just long enough to send back video of the missile's impact.

Ballistic or semiballistic projectiles, be they intercontinental ballistic missiles or guided howitzer/mortar shells, are not considered UAVs because they are not self-powered. That some unpowered guided shells do use aerodynamic control surfaces does not qualify them as a UAV.