[clarkmoody]

Well, as an aerospace engineer, I don't think any vehicle should be called a drone. Unmanned [Combat] Aerial Vehicle is a better term, or even Remotely Piloted Vehicle.

But if we must use the label, let's say that a 'drone' meets one of the following:

  * Has weapons
  * Operates autonomously
  * Operates over the horizon
  * Requires runway facilities -- large remotely-piloted aircraft

Everything else is just RC, including the quadrotors in the article.