A Brief History of Unmanned Aircraft
From bomb-bearing balloons to the Global Hawk.
- By Ed Darack
- AirSpaceMag.com, May 18, 2011
NASM (SI 9A02225)
A second-generation turbojet-powered Firebee, built by Ryan Aeronautical Company and developed from a target drone initially developed for the U.S. Air Force, led to the AQM-34, which ushered in modern unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the AQM-34 flew tens of thousands of missions over North Vietnam, parts of China, and even the Soviet Union, obviating the risk posed by manned reconnaissance flights.
In the 1970s, Israel began to modify existing UAVs and develop new designs. One of the most ingenious Israeli uses of UAVs came during the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, when a “swarm” of Northrop Chukar unmanned craft was sent toward the Golan Heights. The Syrian military was tricked into thinking a massive air attack was under way against its potent surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries, and launched dozens of SAMs against the incoming aircraft, substantially depleting their air defenses. In subsequent years, Israel took the global lead in certain types of UAVs, particularly in the 1980s with the development of lighter, smaller unmanned aircraft like the RQ-2 Pioneer (pictured). Along with its sibling, the IAI RQ-5 Hunter, the Pioneer flew extensively in the 1991 Gulf War.
| Tweet | Digg |
Comments (6)
I really liked the piece on "A Brief History of Unmanned Aircraft". I learned some things that I did not know.
Posted by Robert Bone on May 25,2011 | 01:37 PM
Really enjoyed this set... especially the Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe connection with Radioplane. A very small world makes for great history telling. Enjoyed the story greatly.
Posted by Ray Krause on May 25,2011 | 08:09 PM
I expected to see the Ryan Model 154-AQM 91A "Compass Arrow" from 1968 in your history of Unmanned Aircraft.
It was a big step forward in this field.
Check "Fireflies and other UAV's" by William Wagner published in 1992.
Posted by Roy Benstead on May 26,2011 | 08:37 PM
In the article you start out by saying Naval Aviators learned in T-6'. Not so, they flew the SNJ. Pretty much the same a/c but a T-6 is a T-6 and an SNJ is still an SNJ.I served aboard NAAS Miramar in 1952 as plane captain for an SNJ and an SNB Miramar hadn't been designated NAS yet so we were basically the only a/c on base. It was a great time to be there, a time to learn and improve my skills as an Aviation Mech with a crew that cared about the a/c we sent out everday. Glenn Dunham, AD2
Posted by glenn dunham on June 10,2011 | 01:47 PM
following up on the article with Ronald Reagan and Marily Monroe with Radioplane. I too was surprised by the connection because after my first assignment at Miramar I was transferred to Hawaii's Barbers Point utility squadron and worked in a KD238 where we flew Radioplane KD-28 drones. We flew them off the North Shore of Oahu at Dillingham AFB and off an A/C carrier to service the guns on several DD's on a cruise to Japan. We flew both prop driven and pulse jet engines and I still have pictures of both kind if anybody woulc care to share. glennginny@hotmail.com
Posted by glenn dunham on June 10,2011 | 02:03 PM
"The Buzz Bombs proved devastating, killing more than 10,000 civilians and injuring nearly 28,000."
And the many inmates at the Dora-Nordhausen concentration camp in the Harz mountains Germany, where these weapons where build under greawsom conditions..
I live under one of the old V-1 'flight-lines' from Rotterdam-Pernis to Antwerp. I remember the removals of a number of malfunctioned and crashed V-1's in my neighborhood at Spijkenisse, the Netherlands.
Posted by Arjan Wolters on July 20,2011 | 03:47 PM