Shrinking electronics help fuel rising usage

Integration helps UAVs carry more sensors and send data faster, making unmanned aircraft more valuable.

Unmanned aerial vehicles have become a mainstay of military technology, providing surveillance information that can't be gathered any other way. Their rapid growth is being aided by advances that let UAVs gather many different types of data and send it to earth stations quickly.

Electronic modules fill these unmanned aircraft. Sensors gather data, circuit boards collect and store it, and communication modules transmit it so information can flow to warfighters in real time.