A decision by India’s National Disaster Response Force to use drones to help Nepal map the scale of devastation caused by last week’s earthquake—more than 7,000 people have died—indicates how India has enthusiastically taken to these pilotless aircraft.
With 22.5% of the world’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imports, between 1985 and 2014, India ranks first among drone-importing nations, followed by United Kingdom and France. UAVs, or drones as they are commonly known, are pilotless aerial vehicles used for reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence gathering and aerial combat missions.