Drones: The Ultimate $82B Economic Stimulus

FORTUNE -- Last month the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the unmanned systems industry's largest trade organization, released its first economic study detailing just how an expected $82 billion in economic impacts resulting from the integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the national airspace will be spread across the 50 states. But perhaps "detailing" is the wrong word. While the report is arguably the most thorough examination of the burgeoning drone industry's potential economic impacts to date, even the report's own author admits the UAS industry remains so nascent that the data necessary to make comprehensive projections simply doesn't yet exist.