Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on civil and military drones.

Welcome by some feared by others. Whichever side you're on, listen carefully because drones are here to stay.

And they're forcing us to rethink business models and our laws and safety and security standards.

Yes, they are. So how can we make sense of this vast and complex drone landscape?

And how exactly will drones impact our lives? Stay with us.

They come in many ships and sizes ranging from insect-sized types to large ones weighing several tons,

and they're opening the door to a new era of almost limitless potential.

But what are these mysterious creatures that are increasingly populating our skies?

Unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely piloted aircraft systems or unmanned aircraft systems.

These are all the different ways of referring to what are

most commonly known as drones. They're not new. Actually, the earliest documented unmanned flight

is believed to have taken place 180 years ago during an Austrian attack over the city of Venice

using unmanned balloons filled with explosives. But never before have they offered such a wide range of applications.

Indeed, civil drones are mainly used for entertainment and recreational purposes such as photography,

but can also be used in agriculture, delivery services, search and rescue missions and humanitarian operations.

It's estimated that energy, agriculture, construction and transport

are the top industries for the civil drones market. In the military realm, drones are predominantly

deployed in intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions, but also in combat missions,

increasingly through the use of armed drones, although the use of armed drones is still highly controversial and subject to many international debates, but the

advantages are manifold for the operator, increased safety, less risk of loss of human life and

cheaper maintenance and acquisition.

These advantages have favoured quick technological progress, which in turn has led to

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