UAS
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) means an unmanned aircraft and its associated elements related to safe operations, which may include but not be limited to control stations, data communications links, support equipment, payloads, flight termination systems, and launch/recovery equipment. The unmanned aircraft (UA) is the flying component of the system, flown by a pilot via a ground control system, or autonomously through the use of an on-board computer, communication links, and any additional equipment necessary for the unmanned aircraft to operate safely. The Federal Aviation Administration issues either an Airworthiness Directive (AD) or a Certificate of Authorization (COA) for the entire system, not just the flying component of the system. Reporting of UAS costs and flight hours is only required if the accumulated costs for acquisition and operations meets the agency's threshold for capitalization, and the UAS has a useful life of two years or more.