Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

v1.4.1 / TOC (19 chapters) / 01 mar 08 / greg goebel / public domain

* Unmanned aircraft, known variously as "drones", "remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs)", and now "unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)", have been a feature of aviation for much of its history, though in limited or secondary roles. In the 21st century, the technology seems to be headed towards greatly expanded use. This document outlines the history, current technology, and future prospects of UAVs.

[1.0] Early US Target Drones

• [1.1] REGINALD DENNY & THE RADIOPLANE OQ-2
  
• [1.2] RADIOPLANE BTT FAMILY (SHELDUCK)
  
• [1.3] NORTHROP VENTURA GAM-67 CROSSBOW, AQM-38
  
• [1.3] EARLY US MACH 2 TARGETS: AQM-35, AQM-60, MQM-42A
  
• [1.5] BEECH MQM-39A / MQM-61A CARDINAL
  

[2.0] Modern US Target Drones

• [2.1] RYAN BQM-34A/S FIREBEE I
  
• [2.2] RYAN BQM-34E/F FIREBEE II
  
• [2.3] BEECH AQM-37 JAYHAWK / TELEDYNE-RYAN AQM-81 FIREBOLT / OSC SSST
  
• [2.4] NORTHROP CHUKAR I, II, & III
  
• [2.5] BEECH MQM-107 STREAKER / CEI BQM-167 SKEETER
  
• [2.6] US ARMY FQM-117 TARGETS / OUTLAW / BATS
  
• [2.7] FULL-SCALE AIRCRAFT TARGETS
  

[3.0] International Target Drones

• [3.1] AUSTRALIAN GAF JINDIVIK
  
• [3.2] BRITISH MEGGITT DEFENCE SYSTEMS BANSHEE
  
• [3.3] BRITISH FLIGHT REFUELING (FRL) FALCONET
  
• [3.4] FRENCH AEROSPATIALE CT.20, CT.22, CT.41
  
• [3.5] FRENCH CAC SYSTEMES FOX-TS3, MINI-FOX, ECLIPSE
  
• [3.6] ITALIAN METEOR P.1, P.70, MIRACH 100
  
• [3.7] EADS IRIS JET / SOUTH AFRICAN KENTRON SKUA
  

[4.0] The Lightning Bug Reconnaissance Drones

• [4.1] RYAN MODEL 136 / FIRE FLY / RYAN MODEL 147A
  
• [4.2] LIGHTNING BUG / MODEL 147B
  
• [4.3] LIGHTNING BUGS IN COMBAT (1964:1965)
  
• [4.4] LIGHTNING BUGS OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA (1966)
  
• [4.5] LIGHTNING BUGS OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA (1967:1968)
  
• [4.6] THE LAST DAYS OF THE LIGHTNING BUGS (1969:1975)
  
• [4.7] LIGHTNING BUG SUMMARY
  

[5.0] Secret US Reconnaissance Drones / Early Soviet UAVs

• [5.1] RYAN MODEL 154 / COMPASS COPE
  
• [5.2] LOCKHEED D-21 TAGBOARD
  
• [5.3] LAVOCHKIN LA-17
  
• [5.4] TUPOLEV RECONNAISSANCE DRONES
  

[6.0] Decoys

• [6.1] ADM-20 QUAIL DECOY
  
• [6.2] BRUNSWICK DECOYS / TALD / ITALD
  
• [6.3] CHUKAR DECOYS IN THE GULF WAR
  
• [6.4] NORTHROP GRUMMAN MINIATURE AIR-LAUNCHED DECOY (MALD)
  

[7.0] US Battlefield UAVs (1)

• [7.1] BATTLEFIELD UAVS
  
• [7.2] THE DASH HELICOPTER DRONES / SEAMOS
  
• [7.3] US BATTLEFIELD UAVS IN THE GULF WAR: PIONEER / EXDRONE / POINTER
  
• [7.4] FLOPS (1): AQUILA / BRAVE 200
  
• [7.5] FLOPS (2): HUNTER / SKY OWL
  
• [7.6] FLOPS (3): OUTRIDER
  

[8.0] US Battlefield UAVs (2)

• [8.1] US ARMY RQ-7A SHADOW 200 / SHADOW 600
  
• [8.2] RQ-8A / RQ-8B FIRE SCOUT
  
• [8.3] BAI AEROSYSTEMS BQM-147 DRAGON DRONE
  
• [8.4] BELL EAGLE EYE
  

[9.0] US Battlefield UAVs (3)

• [9.1] DRST SENTRY, SENTRY HP, NEPTUNE
  
• [9.2] RYAN MODEL 324 SCARAB, BQM-145A MEDIUM RANGE UAV
  
• [9.3] SIKORSKY CYPHER / AURORA GOLDENEYE / AEROVIRONMENT SKYTOTE
  
• [9.4] FREEWING SCORPION
  
• [9.5] A160 HUMMINGBIRD / NEXTGEN UAV
  
• [9.6] UCAR / BURRO
  
• [9.7] INSITU AEROSONDE & SCANEAGLE MINI-UAVS
  
• [9.8] NORTHROP GRUMMAN KILLER BEE
  

[10.0] International Battlefield UAVs (1)

• [10.1] ORIGINS OF ISRAELI BATTLEFIELD UAVS
  
• [10.2] ISRAELI UAVS: MASTIFF, SCOUT, & SEARCHER SERIES
  
• [10.3] ISRAELI UAVS: I-VIEW & HARPY
  
• [10.4] ISRAELI UAVS: SNIPER, MICRO-V, & HERMES 180
  
• [10.5] CANADIAN UAVS: CANADAIR CL-89, CL-289
  
• [10.6] CANADIAN UAVS: CANADAIR CL-227, CL-327, CL-427
  
• [10.7] FRENCH UAVS: MART, CRECERELLE, & SPERWER
  
• [10.8] FRENCH UAVS: FOX, K100, HELIOT, & VIGILANT
  

[11.0] International Battlefield UAVs (2)

• [11.1] ITALIAN UAVS: METEOR & MIRACH SERIES
  
• [11.2] BRITISH UAVS: PHOENIX & WATCHKEEPER
  
• [11.3] SWISS UAVS: RANGER
  
• [11.4] GERMAN UAVS: KZO, TAIFUN, & LUNA
  
• [11.5] RUSSIAN UAVS: YAK SHMEL-1, KAMOV KA-137
  
• [11.6] EADS ORKA 1200 & SCORPIO
  
• [11.7] OTHER INTERNATIONAL BATTLEFIELD UAVS
  

[12.0] The Prehistory Of Endurance UAVs

• [12.1] BEAMED POWER UAV EXPERIMENTS
  
• [12.2] COMPASS DWELL & THE XQM-93
  
• [12.3] SOLAR-POWERED UAVS: HALSOL & SOLAR HAPP
  
• [12.4] CONDOR & AMBER
  
• [12.5] GENERAL ATOMICS GNAT-750
  

[13.0] Modern US Endurance UAVs

• [13.1] GENERAL ATOMICS PREDATOR
  
• [13.2] PREDATOR IN SERVICE / MQ-1 ARMED PREDATOR / US ARMY SKY WARRIOR
  
• [13.3] MQ-9 REAPER (PREDATOR B)
  
• [13.4] RQ-3A DARKSTAR UAV / CLASSIFIED DARKSTAR FOLLOW-ON / POLECAT
  
• [13.5] NORTHROP GRUMMAN RQ-4 GLOBAL HAWK / SENSOR CRAFT
  

[14.0] International Endurance UAVs

• [14.1] ISRAELI IAI MALAT E-HUNTER, HERON
  
• [14.2] ISRAELI SILVER ARROW HERMES SERIES
  
• [14.3] INTERNATIONAL ENDURANCE UAV EFFORTS
  

[15.0] The NASA ERAST HALE UAV Program

• [15.1] PRELUDE: THE NASA MINI-SNIFFER PROGRAM
  
• [15.2] THE NASA ERAST PROGRAM
  
• [15.3] AURORA FLIGHT SYSTEMS PERSEUS & THESEUS
  
• [15.4] GENERAL ATOMICS ERAST UAVS
  
• [15.5] SCALED COMPOSITES PROTEUS
  
• [15.6] THE BMDO RAPTOR UAVS
  
• [15.7] PATHFINDER & HELIOS / LONG ENDURANCE UAV DEVELOPMENTS
  

[16.0] UCAVs

• [16.1] UCAV ORIGINS
  
• [16.2] USAF / BOEING X-45 UCAV
  
• [16.3] US NAVY / NORTHROP GRUMMAN X-47A PEGASUS UCAV
  
• [16.4] FUTURE US UCAV EFFORTS
  
• [16.5] MINION UCAV / HUNTER-KILLER / EXCALIBER
  
• [16.6] NEURON UCAV / OTHER INTERNATIONAL UCAV DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
  

[17.0] Miniature UAVs

• [17.1] MAVS & MESICOPTERS
  
• [17.2] MAVS RETHOUGHT
  
• [17.3] GUN-LAUNCHED & PARASITE UAVS
  
• [17.4] MAN-PORTABLE UAVS
  

[18.0] Miscellaneous Topics

• [18.1] NASA AERODYNAMIC TEST UAVS
  
• [18.2] NASA MARS UAVS
  
• [18.3] UAV REGULATORY ISSUES
  

[19.0] Comments, Sources, & Revision History