As you might be aware, Amazon has the world's biggest online retail operation. Therefore, a quick, semi-automated delivery system via an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone is a natural thing to invest in. While such deliveries are possible, I think them unlikely in the near future. Google has rather more noble goals with its own drone program, Project Wing, which was initially conceived as a means to shuttle defibrillator kits to people having heart attacks. The company's long-term goal for Project Wing is to provide disaster relief by delivering supplies to remote areas affected by floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously could service a very large number of people in an emergency. The head of Google's drone project believes that the division could begin delivering packages as early as 2017. The project's goal is to have the scheme up and running in 2017. Project Wing, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other groups are currently discussing the development of an air traffic control (ATC) system for its drones.
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