Originally Posted by
PANews
At best a small quad Drone is a free flying CCTV to which you can add an umbilical to extend its time of flight but not its range. It can only rarely be considered an instant reaction tool..... chasing baddies across fields [as being promoted recently by some operators] is the stuff of dreams or press set-peices. Generally they are never going to be in the right place at the right time with the machine ready to fly unless its a pre-programmed sting or a stake-out.
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Nothing up and out there now [the future may change of course] will replace a helicopter in other than the persistent surveillance or photographic role and yet there is a danger that all of us are talking up the technology prematurely.
Drones have been absolutely invaluable in disaster response in the US, with the most recent hurricanes destroying billions of dollars of infrastructure literally overnight. They've supported SAR, Electrical Grid inspections, road and bridge inspections, cell tower inspections, building safety surveys and more. I won't say they've REPLACED helicopters in those roles, but the ability to have hundreds of drones aloft hours after a storm batters an area is something that's simply not possible with helicopters, at such a scale.
Drones are also being used in the cinema world in roles unsuited for any other platform, and keeping pilots from performing more and more risky flights. They can carry the same cameras we put in helicopter gimbals, but fly in smaller places and require less logistical ground support.
Your comments may be directed solely at Police/LE use, but even still, the ability for even the smallest department to have a trained officer with a FLIR-equipped drone in their trunk for finding missing persons or suspects hiding in the woods is a huge advantage. It's enabling capabilities at a price point that's a fraction of a fraction of helicopters. While the capabilities may not be the same, it would be extremely short-sighted to write off drones wholesale at this point.