Unmanned Systems - Defined

There is usually some confusion when discussing unmanned systems. Terms like drone, sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), UAS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), UMS (Unmanned Martitime Systems), and ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles)are often used interchangeably. All the mentioned terms are related and involve operations without the human operator being physically present. However, unmanned systems, generally speaking, are any robotic platform that performs a function with little to no human intervention, whether that be in the air, on land, in the ocean, underground, and even space.