History of unmanned aerial vehicles
UAVs evolved from 1849 balloons to modern recoverable drones.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fall into two categories: autonomous drones, which operate without human input, and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs). They are designed for controlled, sustained level flight and are powered by jet, reciprocating, or electric engines. By the twenty-first century, advances in technology allowed UAVs to take on much broader roles across aviation. Unlike cruise missiles, which are designed to strike a target and are themselves munitions, UAVs are meant to be recovered after a mission. A military UAV can carry and fire its own weapons, whereas a cruise missile is the weapon itself. Loitering munitions sit between these two categories. The earliest known use of an unmanned aircraft in warfare dates to July 1849, when Austrian forces besieging Venice launched around 200 incendiary balloons. Each carried a 24- to 30-pound bomb with a time fuse, intended to drop over the city. Most balloons were launched from land, but some came from the Austrian ship SMS Vulcano. The Austrians used smaller pilot balloons to set the correct fuses. Only one bomb is known to have fallen in Venice; shifting winds caused most balloons to miss their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and the Vulcano. During World War I, the first pilotless aircraft were built. A. M. Low, an expert in early television and radio technology, suggested using his work to create a remotely controlled aircraft to attack Zeppelins. This led to a series of British drone weapons in 1917 and 1918. Designers from Sopwith Aviation, Rushton Proctor, de Havilland, and the Royal Aircraft Factory all contributed, using Low’s radio control system developed at the Royal Flying Corps’ secret Experimental Works in Feltham. Low confirmed that Geoffrey de Havilland’s monoplane flew under control on March 21, 1917. Low is known as the "father of radio guidance systems" and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1976. John Taylor later called Low the "Father of the Remotely Piloted Vehicle." On September 12 of that same year, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane—also called the "flying bomb"—made its first flight, demonstrating the unmanned aircraft concept. It was intended as an "aerial torpedo," an early version of today’s cruise missiles, and used gyroscopes developed by Elmer Sperry of the Sperry Gyroscope Company.
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Lore & Background
The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849, when Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 incendiary balloons each carrying a 24- to 30-pound bomb with a time fuse over the city. The balloons were launched mainly from land, and some from the Austrian ship SMS Vulcano. At least one bomb fell in the city, but most missed due to wind changes, and some drifted back over Austrian lines. During World War I, the first pilotless aircraft were built. From a suggestion that A. M. Low’s expertise in early television and radio technology be used to develop a remotely controlled pilotless aircraft to attack Zeppelins, a succession of British drone weapons evolved in 1917 and 1918. Designers from Sopwith Aviation, Rushton Proctor, de Havilland, and the Royal Aircraft Factory became involved. Low confirmed that Geoffrey de Havilland’s monoplane flew under control on 21 March 1917. Low is known as the 'father of radio guidance systems' and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1976; John Taylor alternatively suggested Low was the 'Father of the Remotely Piloted Vehicle'. Soon after, on September 12, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, or 'flying bomb', made its first flight, demonstrating the concept of an unmanned aircraft, intended as an early version of cruise missiles. In November 1917, it was flown for representatives of the US Army, leading to the Kettering Bug, which first flew in 1918 but was not in time to fight in World War I. After World War I, three Standard E-1s were converted to drones. The Larynx was an early cruise missile tested by the Royal Navy between 1927 and 1929. In 1931 the British developed the Fairey Queen radio-controlled target, and in 1935 produced the DH.82B Queen Bee, whose name allegedly led to the term 'drone'. The U.S. Navy also experimented with radio-controlled aircraft, and in 1936 the head of US Navy research group used the term 'DRONE' to designate radio-controlled aerial targets. Hungarian scientist Kálmán Tihanyi worked on television guidance from 1929, inventing the first infrared-sensitive electronic television-camera for anti-aircraft defense. Subsequent British drones included the Airspeed Queen Wasp, Miles Queen Martinet, and Curtiss Queen Seamew. The Soviets tested pilotless munitions-delivery in 1935-1939.
Reader's Guide
The first large-scale production, purpose-built drone was the product of Reginald Denny, a former British Royal Flying Corps member who returned to Hollywood after World War I. In the 1930s he opened a shop that evolved into the Radioplane Company. Denny demonstrated prototype target drones to the US Army, and in 1940 won an Army contract for the radio-controlled RP-4, which became the Radioplane OQ-2. Nearly fifteen thousand drones were manufactured for the Army during World War II. The true inventor of a radio-controlled aircraft that could fly out of sight was Edward M. Sorensen, whose patents allowed ground operators to know the airplane's climbing, altitude, banking, direction, rpm, and other instrumentation; without these patents, early radio-controlled aircraft could only operate within visual sight. The US Navy experimented with radio-controlled aircraft in the 1930s, resulting in the Curtiss N2C-2 drone in 1937, remotely controlled from a TG-2 aircraft. The US Army Air Forces adopted the concept in 1939, using obsolescent aircraft as 'A-series' target drones, later designated 'PQ'. Hundreds of Culver PQ-8 and thousands of PQ-14 target drones were acquired. The US also used modified B-17 and B-24 bombers in Aphrodite and Anvil operations as large aerial torpedoes, with no great success and the loss of aircrew including Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. The TDN-1 was developed in 1940, capable of delivering a 1,000-pound bomb but never saw operational duty. The Naval Aircraft Factory assault drone 'Project Fox' installed an RCA television camera in the drone and a six-inch television screen in the TG-2 control aircraft in 1941. In April 1942 it successfully delivered a demonstration torpedo attack on a US destroyer at 20 miles range, and another drone was crashed into a target moving at eight knots. The Navy Bureau of Aeronautics proposed a program of 162 control planes and 1,000 assault drones, but disagreements arose over full-scale combat implementation versus a small-scale test, and assault drones remained an unproven concept.
Did You Know?
- The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting was in July 1849, when Austrian forces launched incendiary balloons against Venice.
- The term 'drone' allegedly originated from the British DH.82B Queen Bee target drone.
- Edward M. Sorensen's patents enabled radio-controlled aircraft to fly out of sight by transmitting instrumentation data to the ground.
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