UAV safety trends
In April 2003 a Congressional Research Service report noted, “The current UAV accident rate … is 100 times that of manned aircraft.” Things are definitely looking better in 2012, with a report by the Air Force Safety Center showing accident rates for Predators, Reapers and Global Hawks that are very close to those of manned aircraft like F-16s and F-22s when you compare similar points in their life cycles (cumulative hours flown).