Able to fly with or without a human crew on board the aircraft, OPVs are a low-cost alternative to UAVs in research, experimentation, and concept exploration, but may also become used in mainstream operations as familiarity with them increases.
Unimpeded by a human's physiological limitations, an OPV is able to operate under more adverse conditions and/or for greater endurance times.
The US Naval Postgraduate School Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) in Monterey, California operates a highly modified Cessna 337-O2 Skymaster OPV called Pelican.
The OPV provides a low-risk, low-cost test and evaluation alternative to a Predator UAV.
Additionally, Autonodyne has operated an OPV Cessna 182 since 2018, which uses their onboard Avidyne Corporation to be piloted from the Autonodyne ground control software, relay communications between Air Traffic Control and the ground pilot, and autonomously detect and avoid hazardous traffic via wing-mounted cameras.