Classification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) by Different Through-road Performance

The use of drones requires the support of UAS. A UAS is a functional system consisting of a command and control station, one or more drones, an on-board mission payload, a data link and related support facilities. Power systems, mission payload equipment capabilities, sensing and autonomous control guidance systems, and take-off and landing technologies are the four key core technologies of UAS. UAS are categorized according to different throughput performance.

1) Large-scale UAS are mainly applied in the field of military high-end demand, and are the “tip of the tower” of the whole industrial system. The development complexity and technological challenges of large-scale UAS, such as air-to-air combat, high altitude and high speed, and long endurance, are even greater than those of most manned combat airplanes. Only a few countries in the world, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel and China, have the independent development capability of large-scale UAS, and only a dozen or so leading defense companies around the globe have the ability to develop and produce large-scale UAS.

2) The performance of medium-sized UAS can satisfy most conventional tactical scenarios and industrial applications, and some countries with a low scientific and technological industrial base have also entered this field through technological cooperation and the introduction of production lines, etc. About 40 countries and regions in the world and hundreds of manufacturers have the production capacity of medium-sized UAS development, which includes traditional defense and aviation manufacturing enterprises as well as a number of emerging high-tech enterprises. These include not only traditional defense and aerospace manufacturers, but also many emerging high-tech enterprises.

3) With mature software and hardware technologies and product support systems, micro and small UAS are being developed and applied in special combat scenarios and in the mass and consumer fields, involving relatively low thresholds in terms of technology, specialization and capital, and involving thousands of enterprises, with China's DJI Innovation and other enterprises already occupying a large market share and forming an industrial scale effect.