Spy Planes

In the late twentieth century, with the development of ever smaller electronic systems, the military saw the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as spy planes. A drone could be fitted with cameras and modern guidance systems to fly on missions over territory where it might be risky to send a piloted airplane. With a drone, there was no risk of a pilot being lost if the vehicle was shot down.

Drones do not have the same limita­tions as people-they do not get tired or hungry—so they can stay in the air for many hours. A solar-powered drone could, in theory, stay in the air for weeks. Modern drones are very small and some can fly low—sneaking around hills rather than flying over them, which makes them hard to spot on radar.

Whereas early drones were always controlled by a person on the ground, modern drones can fly on their own, using built-in control and guidance systems. In the future, drones may be capable of decision making, replacing the human pilot altogether, but this type of technology is still far off.