From Hollywood to airbases and backyards: why 2018 will be the year of the drone

Advances in technology, combined with sensible and easily enforced regulations, set the stage for a boom in pilotless aircraft

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Drones fly above the statue of Lord Laozi during the Laojun Mountain Drone Convention in Luoyang in China's central Henan province in August. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:49am, 30 Dec 2017Updated: 10:49am, 30 Dec 2017

Last month, a fresh diplomatic row broke out between two Himalayan neighbours as Chinese state-run media reported that an Indian drone crashed in Chinese territory. The crash site appeared to have been in or around Doklam, where soldiers from the two sides were locked in a months-long face-off in the summer. It might seem like a one-off, but the crash points to an increase in the use of drones for both military and commercial purposes in recent years. Next year, however, looks set to be a period of great expansion in their use, making 2018 the breakout year for drones.

Drones were used for light shows in Hong Kong last year. Photo: Felix Wong

So, what is a drone? Most simply put, it is a pilotless aircraft. If you like acronyms, you might call it a UAV or a UAS, but whatever you call it, the drone has been in use for more than 100 years. The first time drones were used in large numbers was in 1944, when the Germans hit on the charming idea of launching large numbers of V-1 flying bombs at the British mainland. They were about the size of a small plane and had a jet engine, but could not be steered. My father saw one, its underside painted light green. It flew over his house on Leswin Road in London, glided silently over the next two streets and crashed on the third.

An electric company employee in Ivory Coast uses a drone to inspect high-voltage power lines. Photo: AFP

Drones to love

Drones are now used by armed forces in greater numbers than ever before, as well as by Asian spy agencies like India’s RAW (this is one of the few areas where India has the upper hand on China), but civilian use is even more widespread. Many pioneering companies and individuals use drones to supplement their business processes. These include inspection services (of monuments, pylons and power cables, oil rigs, solar farms, etc), media, journalism, fire and rescue, law enforcement, crop-spraying, bomb detection, flood monitoring, wildlife watching and cinematography, map surveys and anything else you can think of. You do not need to be a company or organisation to own a sophisticated drone: individual enthusiasts can buy a very capable observation drone like a DJI Phantom 4 for as little as US$2,000 (HK$15,600).