Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technologies, Applications, and Regulatory Frameworks: A Scoping Review
AI Analysis
This scoping review of 109 sources highlights the maturity of UAV technology for civilian applications, but identifies critical gaps beyond technical capabilities. Research is heavily focused on autonomy and AI, primarily within the US, Europe, and China. Successful deployment now hinges on regulatory compliance, economic viability, and ethical considerations.
Key Takeaways
- Research heavily concentrates on autonomy and AI-driven control systems for UAVs.
- Geographic research dominance is observed in the US, Europe, and China.
- Significant knowledge gaps exist in economic feasibility, interoperability, developing-world deployment, and lifecycle assessment.
- Non-technical factors (regulation, economics, ethics) are increasingly crucial for successful UAV deployment.
- Challenges remain in energy storage, swarm communication reliability, and privacy efficiency.
Why It Matters
The shift in focus from purely technical advancements to regulatory and economic factors signals a maturing UAV market. This necessitates a broader, interdisciplinary approach to UAV development and deployment, particularly for military applications where cost, legality, and ethical concerns are paramount. Understanding these gaps is crucial for effective counter-UAS strategy and future procurement.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technologies, Applications, and Regulatory Frameworks: A Scoping Review
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Open AccessReview
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technologies, Applications, and Regulatory Frameworks: A Scoping Review
by
Muhammad Mbarak
,
Mohd Hasanul Alam
and
Mohammed Awad
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah 72603, United Arab Emirates
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Drones 2026, 10(5), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10050365
Submission received: 12 March 2026 / Revised: 3 May 2026 / Accepted: 6 May 2026 / Published: 11 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Topic Civil and Public Domain Applications of Unmanned Aviation 2025)
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Figure 1 PRISMA-ScR screening flow across all three search streams. ">
Highlights
What are the main findings?
Following PRISMA-ScR methodology, this scoping review synthesises 109 sources across three domains, namely UAV platform technologies, civil applications in eight sectors, and global regulatory and ethical frameworks, providing a structured, cross-disciplinary knowledge map for researchers and practitioners initiating drone-based projects.
Research attention is heavily concentrated on autonomy and AI-driven control systems, with geographic dominance in US–European–Chinese contexts; critical knowledge gaps persist in economic feasibility analysis, interoperability standardization, developing-world deployment contexts, and environmental lifecycle assessment.
What are the implications of the main findings?
As UAV technology has matured sufficiently for widespread civilian adoption, deployment success increasingly depends on non-technical factors like early regulatory engagement, realistic economic planning, and ethical compliance rather than on capability constraints alone.
Fundamental contradictions between optimistic application scalability claims and persistent constraints in energy storage, swarm communication reliability, and privacy efficiency trade-offs highlight the urgent need for integrated, cross-disciplinary research to bridge the gap between laboratory