Full coverage: Drones

6:56 PM PDT, April 29, 2012

Police departments wait for FAA clearance to fly drones

WASHINGTON — Police departments across the country have bought inexpensive small drone aircraft with cameras to help track drug dealers, find missing children and locate wandering Alzheimer's patients, but federal rules designed to protect the nation's airspace have kept them grounded.

9:16 PM PDT, April 28, 2012

Predator drones have yet to prove their worth on border

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The drug runners call it "el mosco," the mosquito, and one recent evening on the southern tip of Texas, a Predator B drone armed with cameras buzzed softly over the beach on South Padre Island and headed inland.

9:03 AM PDT, April 13, 2012

Defense firm develops high-tech robotic boat for the Navy [video]

2:09 PM PST, March 7, 2012

Air Force space drone's secret mission hits one-year mark

One year after the Air Force blasted it into orbit, an experimental robotic space drone continues to circle the Earth.

9:57 PM PST, February 13, 2012

Pentagon working with FAA to open U.S. airspace to combat drones

With a growing fleet of combat drones in its arsenal, the Pentagon is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to open U.S. airspace to its robotic aircraft.

8:46 AM PST, February 8, 2012

Protester interrupts congressman's speech at drone conference

At a conference about the development of aerial drones for use in combat, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), was interrupted Wednesday by an anti-drone protester as he was giving a speech.

February 7, 2012

Editorial

Regarding U.S. drones

Congress and the courts need to take a harder look at the moral and legal issues around the program.

February 1, 2012

Editorial

America's drone wars

President Obama's comments on drone strikes should start the process of greater openness about the program, especially the targeted killing of Americans.

9:54 AM PST, January 30, 2012

FAA delays issuing proposed rules on small drones in airspace

The Federal Aviation Administration has pushed back the date when it will propose new rules for the use of small drones in national airspace.

11:33 AM PST, January 9, 2012

Military uses drone helicopter on supply mission for first time

For the first time ever, the military used a drone to deliver food and supplies to troops in Afghanistan.

November 27, 2011

Idea of civilians using drone aircraft may soon fly with FAA

Drone aircraft, best known for their role in hunting and destroying terrorist hide-outs in Afghanistan, may soon be coming to the skies near you.

May 5, 2010

CIA drones have broader list of targets

The agency since 2008 has been secretly allowed to kill unnamed suspects in Pakistan.

May 2, 2010

U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan get mixed response

The aircraft target Al Qaeda and the Taliban and minimize civilian deaths, U.S. officials say. Many Pakistanis decry them as indiscriminate; others approve, even some who have lost relatives.

February 21, 2010

Drone pilots have a front-row seat on war, from half a world away

The Pentagon has adapted consumer-driven technology such as satellite television and digital video to give pilots, combat troops and commanders at headquarters a real-time look at the enemy on computer screens.