Drone

D

rone is a short name for a remotely piloted aircraft, also known as a remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). It is a small airplane that can be controlled by radio from the ground. A drone also can fly itself using data programmed into its com­puter system.

The main task of a drone is to fly reconnaissance missions, photographing enemy positions, but it also can be used as an attack weapon. The advantage of drones over manned aircraft is that they can operate over dangerous terri­tory without risk to a human pilot. Some drones have long endurance and can stay in the air for as long as two days.

Drone Development

A drone resembles a large model air­plane. Model enthusiasts build and fly radio-controlled airplanes, and the first drones were developed from this hobby. One of the first drones was the Hewitt- Sperry Automatic Airplane, which was developed during and after World War I (1914-1918).

During World War II (1939-1945), the U. S. Army used the Radioplane Target Drone, invented by Walter H. Righter and Reginald Denny. (Denny was at that time better known as a Hollywood actor.) The army used these miniature, unmanned airplanes as flying targets for pilots and antiaircraft gun­ners. Because they were meant to be destroyed by gunfire, the drone vehicles

VARIOUS ROLES

Modern drones have five main roles:

• As targets for gunnery practice by ground guns or pilots.

• For reconnaissance (obtaining information) over the battlefield.

• In combat, where there is high risk to human pilots.

• In research and development.

• In civilian use-for example, by police, or for geological surveys and environmental research.

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had to be cheap-the first Radioplanes cost $600 each in 1938 (which would be about $8,000 today).

Later models, such as the OQ-3 of 1943, could fly at 102 miles per hour (164 kilometers per hour). More than

9,0 OQ-3s were built, and all but six were destroyed during target practice.

Another kind of drone used in World War II was the German V-1 flying bomb. Its mission was offensive: It was basi­cally an unguided missile-a bomb with stubby wings and a pulse-jet motor (a kind of jet engine). The V-1 had a simple guidance system that determined how far it would fly before its engine cut out and it crashed to the ground, exploding on impact. The V-1 was fired from a launch ramp and flew at about 340 miles per hour (about 547 kilo­meters per hour). From June 1944, V-1s based in Nazi-occupied Europe were used to attack Britain. They were terrify­ing but relatively easy to shoot down because they flew in a straight line and had no way to alter their course after launch. The modern equivalent of the V-1 is the cruise missile.