Armed forces??? Muddle the question ....
License required to fly a SUAV....no, of course not.
Paid to fly? Paid to fly anything? Requires CPL.
And I realise I am 'tilting against the windmills' here. The UAV/UAS/SUAV (whatever) guidelines tell 'pilots' that SUAV's are not to be above 400', no night flights, etc .... but that is not how they are being used by the police.
As the police officers flying these are not pilots, how could they be expected to know anything about flight regs? Likewise realtors or land surveyors or others using these airplanes for commercial purposes.
The elements of aviation that define commercial flight are well established and should not be redefined because of this new(ish) technology.
- did not say anything about military use.
- did not say anything needing a license to fly.
Talking about a single aspect of the activity; commercial gain.