Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) research and development and procurement, as well as diverse UAS related activities are increasing rapidly, worldwide. UAS have seen unprecedented levels of growth on all fronts over the past 10 years; however, the best is yet to come!

What has been an amazing fact is that although in 1997 the total income of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) global market was about $2.27 billion,1 it has been argued that until 2015 the UAV market in the US, as a whole, will reach $16 billion, with Europe as a continent playing the role of the second but distant competitor,

spending just about e2 billion.2 However, a study conducted by the Teal Group3 claims that UAVs will continue to be the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry, estimating that UAV spending will more than triple over the next decade, totaling close to $55 billion. An interesting conclusion that the Teal Group reached was that the civil UAV market will slowly emerge over the next decade, starting first with government organizations requiring surveillance systems similar to military UAVs such as coast guards, border patrol organizations and similar national security organizations.

Surprisingly enough, it is this conclusion that, coupled with major initiatives to push for civilian and public use UAS, motivated the authors to write this book. The motivation and rationale becomes more than obvious when one considers that utilization of UAS for civilian applications requires that they fly in civilian, restricted, space, that is, it requires that UAS be integrated in to the National Airspace System (NAS) of the country or continent they fly over.