There are some strong benefits, as well as downsides to UAV’s. First, the benefits. The biggest benefit is you can put a drone in a dangerous situation that a pilot never should or would go into. For example, the famous Blackhawk down mission in Somalia. If there had been drones in that city, we never would have had a helicopter shot down, which required more soldiers to fight and die to rescue the survivors. Also, drones are far smaller and quiet then most aircraft. This makes them hard to detect. Overall, their stealth and unmanned abilities make them far safer then traditional aircraft.
Now for the downsides, a pilot can only see what is on the camera and sensors. There is not a human there, which means that there is a lack of initiative. Now, privacy. These have been big concerns, since drones are almost too stealthy. They can be used in our own country and never be detected, which makes it easier for the government to spy on us. Also, drones can be easily used to trespass in other countries. Again, good for us if we are being sneaky, but can be bad if we are the country that has drones taking out our citizens.
