The use of unmanned aerial vehicles has recently become an integral part in the life of modern society; they are used in solving video surveillance tasks, for photo and video shooting, monitoring the water and land surface, delivering goods, and so on. The constant improvement of their technical characteristics, including the reduction of unmanned aerial vehicles size, makes it difficult to detect them. This article discusses the main characteristics of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as various methods of their detection, based on the use of radiation recorders in the infrared range of electromagnetic waves, optical range cameras, radar stations and the use of radio monitoring technology.