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This first generation of unpiloted vehicles represents a class of aerial vehicle taken for granted or thought of as toys for many years. However, as was shown clearly during the Vietnam War (recently declassified), UAVs were a leading edge ntelligence gathering tool, as well as a flexible mission aircraft that saves human lives. Much like robots are used to handle explosives in many police or SWAT team demolition specialty teams today, the UAV can be placed in high threat situations, perform admirably, and complete its mission (or even fail their mission), with little or no risk to human operators.
In fact, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. even found that UAVs could become attack aircraft, launching TV/FLIR guided Maverick (AGM-65) ground attack missiles at targets using remotely controlled UAVs (BQM-34 "Firebee")..
Moreover, during that period U.S. UAV operators found that the small aircraft could in many cases out-maneuver fighter aircraft and became excellent SAM busting decoys.
Today, the UAV programs in most nations remain highly classified but well received by their military operators. Several autonomous UAVs have been fielded which can be given GPS base or INS based navigational parameters and then are left to loiter and collect SIGINT, COMINT, photography or real time television images, and flash the data or images back to troop commanders. Supposition is that newer, stealthy versions may even be able to be used as strategic assets, dropped by aircraft near target country borders, sneak in at low or very high altitudes, take their pictures or gather intelligence, and then sneak back out to be recovered, all without an opponent knowing anything has happened.
Recent uses of the U.S. Predator UAV to carry air-to-ground missiles and attacks on observed Al Qaida or Taliban leadership have confirmed the use of UAVs as offensive weapons. On April 12, 1999, Boeing was selected to build the Phase II prototype for the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) a stealthy UAV designed to carry out Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) missions without risking pilots. The official rationale is to use UCAVs for "high risk, high priority missions where mission success and survivability are key..."
In the book, Smart Weapons, Rear Admiral Barton D. Strong, the Head of the Joint Projects Office for Cruise Missiles and Unmanned Aircraft, stated,
Clearly the recent and highly successful uses of UAVs in the Gulf
War, in Bosnia and Afghanistan point out that the U.S. military has
embraced the UAV
as a high tech weapon to be reckoned with in the intellignece gathering
arena. The rather expensive Tier III - (minus), ultra stealthy DarkStar
program under development by the Air Force and Lockheed Martin, shows a
DoD and Congressional committment to the life saving future of UAVs.
There are better than 45 operational UAVs (per open sources) in use
for surveillance, recon, target acquistion or other intelligence
gathering
today. We also include two U.S. recon drones, Teledyne Ryan Model 154
and
the D-21 The Teledyne 154 was cancelled some years back, however a
large
number of prototypes were built (some 38). This might mean this drone
could
be in use, especially as a number were rumored to have been stealth
upgraded
with radar absorbing paint and other features. The D-21 drone piggy
backed
on a M-12 (SR-71) mothership. The drones are now said to be in open
storage
at Davis Monmouth and not operational. Our data DOES NOT
include
unverifiable UAVs such as an unmanned "Aurora", an unmanned A-12
derivitive
(see Smart Weapons), or unmanned dervitives of the Vision 2025 SHAAFT/ SHMAC/ SCREMAR
3 hypersonic or transatmospheric concept
vehicles. The vision 2025 study also included a paper on the Strikestar 2025 4,
the UAV of the future.
Created: January 23, 1997
Updated: 3/2/2005