Researchers in Louisiana are hopeful that a pilot program this summer to send a hand-launched CyberBug unmanned aerial vehicle on monthly missions could draw other UAV companies and their lucrative defense contracts to the area. To start, the CyberBug UAV, which was purchased using federal grants, will survey portions of Louisiana’s barrier islands, updating maps and monitoring bird nesting areas, the Thibodaux Daily Comet reported. Business leaders hope that once other companies see UAVs being used more widely in the Gulf, they’ll bring their production facilities to southern Louisiana. Over time, researchers envision partnering with NASA to use UAVs in hurricane tracking, as well as using the small planes to patrol pipelines and power lines.

Officials in North Dakota got lots of use out of a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle when the Red River flooded recently. The drone was able to survey ice floes and flooding, transmitting real-time information to emergency managers, the Associated Press reported. The recent missions over North Dakota marked the first time a drone has been used to survey flooded area, though it has been used in other types of natural disasters. A nearby Air Force base normally uses the UAVs to patrol the Canadian border. But the Predator proved especially helpful during the Red River flooding because the affected area was so large, making surveys from the ground to assess the most vulnerable areas all but impossible. The Predator flew missions about 12 hours long at a time, though it could have stayed up even longer.

Predator drones, controlled by humans thousands of miles away, are nothing new in the military’s arsenal. A new plane being developed by Northrop Grumman could take the unmanned aerial vehicle to the next level, landing on aircraft carriers and even refueling in midair by itself, the Register reported. The $100 million X-47B planes are also specially designed to fly undetected by radar and could carry weapons along with surveillance equipment. The planes are set to start land-based tests in the fall of 2009, with carrier testing as soon as 2011. The X-47B is costly but if it works, it could prove just as capable as many Navy pilots, especially if it can deftly land itself on an aircraft carrier. And that could open up a whole new discussion about when manned flights would still truly be necessary.