There is a person in the loop for all weapon aiming and release. Our drones are not autonomous killers.
Easy Street , I suggest that this statement underlines the very reason for using precise definitions, demonstrating the confusion that occurs when they are misapplied.
The evolved established distinction between a "drone" and a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System was to clearly underline the dissimilar operational concepts, and thus possible implications and consequences of employment, of these significantly different categories of UAV.
The Royal Artillery operated the USD 501 "Midge" in a "Drone Troop" . This was a totally autonomous vehicle which, once launched, was on it own. The flight profile was conducted internally on a system of mechanical air logs and heading changes, with no further external involvement until just before recovery.
Because of the implications of the lack of human in-flight control or input, particularly regarding a weapon system, the conceptual differentiation between a "drone" and a "Remotely Piloted Vehicle" has been deliberately stressed in the past, for good reasons.
By now tacitly accepting the blurring of these definitions, popular misunderstandings (particularly those purveyed in the open press), have arisen; if not actually being encouraged and fostered by interests promoting particular agendas.
Had these misapprehensions been effectively countered, by correction and education in the first place, then defensive statements such as that above about "our drones" not being "autonomous killers" would have been rendered largely unnecessary.