With a growing fleet of combat drones in its arsenal, the Pentagon is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to open U.S. airspace to its robotic aircraft.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the military says the drones it has acquired over the past decade need to return to the United States. When the nation first went to war after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the military had around 50 drones. Now it has nearly 7,500.
The military then hopes to station them at various military bases and use them for many purposes. But the FAA doesn't allow drones in U.S. airspace without special certification.
