Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Powered aircraft that are guided without an onboard crew. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used primarily for reconnaissance and gathering intelligence, but the U.S. military has been exploring other ways of using the potential of these craft.

The earliest recorded use of unmanned aerial vehicles occurred during the American Civil War, when both sides tried to use balloons loaded with explosive devices as unmanned flying bombs. The idea was for the balloons to come down inside a supply or ammunition depot and explode. The Japanese repeated this tactic in World War II, sending long-distance bomb-laden balloons over the Pacific toward the United States. Unable to gauge their success, the Japanese called off the project after several weeks.

The United States experimented with early self-propelled UAVs during World War II, modifying aircraft for use as unmanned flying missiles. After World War II, the U.S. military developed target drones—remote-controlled, unmanned aircraft used as targets for missile or air gunnery tests.

During the Vietnam War, advanced aviation technology began to make UAVs more effective. The United States launched large numbers of unmanned drones over North Vietnam for day reconnaissance missions. Known as Firebees, the drones later were used for other military missions, including night reconnaissance, gathering electronic intelligence, eavesdropping on enemy communications, dropping propaganda leaflets, detecting surface-to-air missile (SAM) radar sites, and identifying enemy units.

Since the 1980s, UAVs have been used extensively in recent conflicts in the Middle East. The Pioneer UAV system of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps has been in operation since 1985 and played a significant role in the 1991 Gulf War. The battleship USS Missouri used its Pioneer drones to spot targets for its main guns, which devastated Iraqi defenses off the coast of Kuwait during that war. Following the Gulf War, military officials recognized the worth of the unmanned systems.

The two main U.S. UAVs now in use are the Predator and the Global Hawk. The Predator operates between 15,000 and 25,000 feet and carries three sensor systems—a color video camera and two types of radar. The air force has also placed Hellfire missiles aboard some Predators. In the near future, the Predator may be able to conduct missile attacks on remote targets, mark targets with its laser for other aircraft, or read targets marked by other sources.

Predator does have some drawbacks. For example, it is not an all-weather system. When it was first deployed in the Balkans in the early 1990s, it was found to ice up frequently. As a result of that experience, Predator now employs an anti-icing system. This system allows it to de-ice its fuselage for a short time, but the missile still cannot operate for a long period under icy conditions. The new Predator B has a number of characteristics that will improve its ability to deal with a wider range of environmental events, including icing conditions.

The Global Hawk is a jet-powered UAV first deployed in the skies over Afghanistan in 2002. The Global Hawk operates at around 60,000 feet and carries a package of sensors similar to that of the air force's U-2 spy plane. Although the Predator currently has a more sophisticated system for electronic eavesdropping, tests show the Global Hawk has great potential in this area. The Global Hawk can stay aloft for up to 34 hours, compared to 12 hours for the updated Predator.

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