In addition to the software, autonomous drones also employ a host of advanced technologies that allow them to carry out their missions without human intervention, such as cloud computing, computer vision, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and thermal sensors. Later examples included the Airspeed Queen Wasp and Miles Queen Martinet, before ultimate replacement by the GAF Jindivik.

The term drone has been used from the early days of aviation, being applied to remotely-flown target aircraft used for practice firing of a battleship's guns, such as the 1920s Fairey Queen and 1930s de Havilland Queen Bee. Many terms are used for aircraft which fly without any persons on board: These include forest fire monitoring, aerial photography, product deliveries, agriculture, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, science, smuggling, and drone racing. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too 'dull, dirty or dangerous' for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. The flight of UAVs may operate under remote control by a human operator, as remotely-piloted aircraft ( RPA), or with various degrees of autonomy, such as autopilot assistance, up to fully autonomous aircraft that have no provision for human intervention.

UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller and a system of communications with the UAV. Prototype of Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, a heavy UCAVĪn unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board.

Aerial photo