Welcome to the drone age.

No topic has been a bigger point of discussion (and contention) in the field of security in 2013 as drones. As UAV’s increasingly become prevalent in daily lives, large questions have already started surfacing about the ethical implications of the technology. Recent studies indicate, however, that the proliferation of the technology is advancing irrespective of society’s moral stance on it.

‘A report this year by Teal Group, a Virginia-based aerospace and defense industry analysis corporation, said UAVs have come to represent the “most dynamic growth sector” of the global aerospace industry, with spending on drones projected to more than double from roughly $5.2 billion a year today to more than $11 billion in 2022.’

According to the CIA, 87 different countries already posess surveillance drones that are on active duty, 26 of whom carry technology comparable to US predator drones.

“People in Washington like to talk about this as if the supposed American monopoly on drones might end one day. Well, the monopoly ended years ago,” said Peter W. Singer, who heads the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at the Brookings Institution.

via yalibnan