The integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or drones in US Airspace, planned for 2015, would have a significant impact on the country's economy. Among all states, California would be the state to benefit the most from such integration.
The New Yorker released an interactive map of the United States according to how much economic impact the integration of UAS would have on each state. The data used for the map was provided by the Association for Unmanned Vehicles System International (AUVSI) in its March report. The New Yorker
The use of UAS would impact state economies in two major ways:
- According to AUVSI, 90 percent of the potential economic impact would be in the agricultural sector, the most impacted sector. If this prediction happens to be true, many states would significantly benefit from the development of the drone technology. Thereby, small but heavily agricultural economies, such as Kansas, would be most affected. Kansas is ranked 7th in the country in terms of economic impact.
- The second most important impact will be in states where major UAS manufacturers are settled. Large manufacturers including General Atomics, Boeing, and United Technologies in the states of California, Washington, and Connecticut, respectively, would be among the biggest beneficiaries.
The top 5 beneficiary states of the integration of drones would be: California, Washington, Texas, Florida and Arizona.