Air collision fears slow expansion of drone use

Leaps in unmanned aircraft technology have military auth-orities clamoring to use more drones for everything from coastal patrols and border surveillance to tracking natural disasters. But fears of midair collisions are slowing any broad expansion of their domestic use. Federal Aviation Administration officials made it clear in a recent closed government conference that until the pilotless aircraft gain the high-tech ability to sense and avoid commercial aircraft and other airborne objects, the government is unlikely to allow them to operate much more freely in congested airspace.

By: By Lolita C. Baldor , The Associated Press , The Jamestown Sun