The technical and popular terms are at odds, and currently tend to reflect whichever element the user wishes to stress: UAV - Uninhabited Air Vehicle - no "man

The technical and popular terms are at odds, and currently tend to reflect whichever element the user wishes to stress: UAV - Uninhabited Air Vehicle - no "man in the can" UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - same RPV - Remotely Piloted Vehicle - we still have pilots! drone - military: target, towed or on auto-pilot drone - media: mindless non-human automaton From the description of Buran's flight, it sounds like a mostly pre-programmed auto-pilot from de-orbit to landing. The technology is impressive for the late 1980s, no matter what it is called.