Drone Aircraft (original) (raw)

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v3.0.0 / TOC (17 chapters) / 01 sep 13 / greg goebel / public domain

* Robot or "drone" aircraft have been a feature of aviation for much of its history, though for much of that time in limited or secondary roles. In the 21st century, the technology seems to be headed towards greatly expanded use. This document provides a history of drone aircraft.

[1.0] Early US Target Drones

• [1.1] REGINALD DENNY & THE RADIOPLANE OQ-2
• [1.2] RADIOPLANE BTT FAMILY (SHELDUCK)
• [1.3] NORTHROP VENTURA GAM-67 CROSSBOW, AQM-38
• [1.4] EARLY US MACH 2 TARGETS: AQM-35, AQM-60, MQM-42A
• [1.5] BEECH MQM-39A / MQM-61A CARDINAL

[2.0] Modern US Target Drones

• [2.1] RYAN BQM-34A/S FIREBEE I
• [2.2] RYAN BQM-34E/F FIREBEE II
• [2.3] BEECH AQM-37 JAYHAWK / TELEDYNE-RYAN AQM-81 FIREBOLT
• [2.4] OSC GQM-163A COYOTE / ATK MSST
• [2.5] NORTHROP CHUKAR I, II, & III
• [2.6] BEECH MQM-107 STREAKER / CEI BQM-167 SKEETER
• [2.7] US ARMY FQM-117 TARGETS / OUTLAW / BATS / FULL-SCALE TARGETS

[3.0] The USAF Lightning Bug Reconnaissance Drones

• [3.1] RYAN MODEL 136 / FIRE FLY / RYAN MODEL 147A
• [3.2] LIGHTNING BUG / MODEL 147B
• [3.3] LIGHTNING BUGS IN COMBAT (1964:1965)
• [3.4] LIGHTNING BUGS OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA (1966)
• [3.5] LIGHTNING BUGS OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA (1967:1968)
• [3.6] THE LAST DAYS OF THE LIGHTNING BUGS (1969:1975)
• [3.7] LIGHTNING BUG SUMMARY

[4.0] US Battlefield Drones (1)

• [4.1] BATTLEFIELD DRONES
• [4.2] THE DASH HELICOPTER DRONES
• [4.3] US BATTLEFIELD DRONES IN THE GULF WAR: PIONEER / POINTER
• [4.4] FLOPS (1): AQUILA / BRAVE 200
• [4.5] FLOPS (2): HUNTER
• [4.6] FLOPS (3): OUTRIDER
• [4.7] BAI AEROSYSTEMS BQM-147 DRAGON DRONE
• [4.8] RYAN BQM-145A MRUAV & MODEL 324 SCARAB

[5.0] US Battlefield Drones (2)

• [5.1] US ARMY RQ-7A SHADOW 200 / SHADOW 600
• [5.2] RQ-8 / MQ-8 FIRE SCOUT
• [5.3] AEROSONDE, SCANEAGLE, & INTEGRATOR DRONES
• [5.4] A160 (MQ-18) HUMMINGBIRD
• [5.5] NORTHROP GRUMMAN BAT

[6.0] The Road To Endurance Drones

• [6.1] RYAN MODEL 154 / COMPASS COPE
• [6.2] LOCKHEED D-21 TAGBOARD
• [6.3] BEAMED POWER DRONE EXPERIMENTS / COMPASS DWELL & THE XQM-93
• [6.4] HALSOL / BOEING CONDOR

[7.0] The General Atomics Predator

• [7.1] AMBER / GENERAL ATOMICS GNAT-750
• [7.2] RQ-1 PREDATOR
• [7.3] MQ-1 ARMED PREDATOR / MQ-1C GRAY EAGLE
• [7.4] MQ-9 REAPER (PREDATOR B)
• [7.5] AVENGER (PREDATOR C)
• [7.6] NORTHROP GRUMMAN FIREBIRD

[8.0] The Darkstar & Global Hawk Endurance Drones

• [8.1] RQ-3A DARKSTAR / RQ-170 SENTINEL
• [8.2] NORTHROP GRUMMAN RQ-4A GLOBAL HAWK
• [8.3] RQ-4B GLOBAL HAWK
• [8.4] VERY LONG ENDURANCE DRONES

[9.0] US Attack Drones

• [9.1] ATTACK DRONE ORIGINS
• [9.2] USAF / BOEING X-45
• [9.3] US NAVY / NORTHROP GRUMMAN X-47A PEGASUS
• [9.4] NORTHROP GRUMMAN X-47B

[10.0] Microdrones & Minidrones

• [10.1] MICRODRONES
• [10.2] MAN-PORTABLE MINIDRONES
• [10.3] TUBE-LAUNCHED MINIDRONES

[11.0] NASA Drones

• [11.1] MINI-SNIFFER
• [11.2] THE NASA ERAST PROGRAM
• [11.3] AURORA FLIGHT SYSTEMS PERSEUS & THESEUS
• [11.4] THE RAPTOR DRONES
• [11.5] PATHFINDER & HELIOS / LONG ENDURANCE DRONE DEVELOPMENTS
• [11.6] NASA AERODYNAMIC TEST DRONES
• [11.7] MARS DRONES
• [11.8] FOOTNOTE: DRONE REGULATORY ISSUES

[12.0] European Target Drones

• [12.1] AUSTRALIAN GAF JINDIVIK
• [12.2] BRITISH FLIGHT REFUELING (FRL) FALCONET
• [12.3] BRITISH MEGGITT DEFENCE SYSTEMS BANSHEE / AVARTEK AT-04
• [12.4] FRENCH AEROSPATIALE CT.20, CT.22, CT.41
• [12.5] ITALIAN METEOR P.1, P.70, MIRACH 100 / EADS IRIS JET

[13.0] European Battlefield Drones

• [13.1] CANADIAN CANADAIR CL-89, CL-289
• [13.2] FRENCH CRECERELLE & SPERWER / AEROVISION FULMAR
• [13.3] BRITISH BAE PHOENIX & WATCHKEEPER / FIRE SHADOW
• [13.4] SWISS OERLIKON RANGER / SWISS UAV ROTORCRAFT
• [13.5] GERMAN STN ATLAS KZO, TAIFUN, & LUNA
• [13.6] AUSTRIAN SCHIEBEL CAMCOPTER / SWEDISH SAAB SKELDAR
• [13.7] EADS ORKA 1200 & SCORPIO
• [13.8] EUROPEAN MINIDRONES & MICRODRONES

[14.0] European Endurance Drones & Attack Drones

• [14.1] EUROPEAN ENDURANCE DRONE EFFORTS
• [14.2] NEURON ATTACK DRONE / OTHER EUROPEAN ATTACK DRONE EFFORTS
• [14.3] FOOTNOTE: DRONES OF AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST, & SOUTH ASIA

[15.0] Israeli Drones

• [15.1] ORIGINS OF ISRAELI BATTLEFIELD DRONES
• [15.2] ISRAELI MALAT MASTIFF, SCOUT, & SEARCHER SERIES
• [15.3] ISRAELI IAI MALAT HERON / ADS DOMINATOR 2 / INNOCON FALCON EYE
• [15.4] ISRAELI ELBIT HERMES SERIES / MBD HARPY
• [15.5] ISRAELI MINI-DRONES

[16.0] Russian / Eastern Drones

• [16.1] LAVOCHKIN LA-17
• [16.2] TUPOLEV RECONNAISSANCE DRONES
• [16.3] RUSSIAN YAK SHMEL-1 / KAMOV KA-137
• [16.4] OTHER RUSSIAN DRONE PROJECTS & CONCEPTS
• [16.5] FOOTNOTE: CHINESE & OTHER FAR EASTERN DRONES

[17.0] Notes

• [17.1] FORGOTTEN & DEAD END DRONE EFFORTS
• [17.2] UNBUILT & EXPERIMENTAL DRONES
• [17.3] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY

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