Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in Sunday evening interview on the CBS (CBS) TV news show "60 Minutes" that the company's R&D labs are working on a so-called Prime Air unmanned aircraft project to create a robotic helicopter that can deliver packages weighing up to 5 pounds right to customers' homes, within 30 minutes. Not all Amazon items, of course, could be delivered by such a system, but Bezos said most of Amazon's orders probably could.
 
Bezos, also Amazon's founder, said during the TV segment that there remain technical and legal hurdles to overcome before the drone project could be transformed from an idea into reality. But he speculated that such drone deliveries might be viable in four or five years.

Bezos says Amazon already is testing prototype drones that have a range of 10 miles. With Amazon's expanding number of warehouses, the 10 miles could cover many U.S. urban areas.

"I know this looks like science fiction. It's not," Bezos said after showing viewers a video clip of a tiny drone helicopter delivering a package to a house.
Jet, propeller and helicopter-based drones are being used to do everything from launching missile strikes at suspected al-Qaida terrorists to traffic and environmental monitoring. Miniature drone helicopters have become popular toys as the technology rapidly improves.

But Bezos concedes that Federal Aviation Administration rules don't cover the use of such delivery drones and that new regulations are needed.

Some observers say it could well be difficult for Amazon to justify the cost and logistics of operating such a drone-delivery system. Among the challenges: Typical drone aircraft are lightweight and don't have the power and size to carry adequate package payloads to justify operating costs.

Also, a system of remotely operated delivery drones would require costly and extensive back-end networks to operate, analysts note.

Source: Investors