Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

1. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAV’s first came about around World War II with the Raidoplane (above). This was run via radio control. It was designed by Reginald Denny who had a great interest in model aircraft. These old UAV’s were not used for recon, but as target practice for anti-aircraft gunners. Target practice was the main use of UAV’s until the late 1960’s when the Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug was used to spy on Vietnam, China, and North Korea in the 1960s and early 1970s. After the Lightning Bug UAV’s were never the same. They took a more active role in the military becoming amazing sources of information for the government and ground units in real time. The RQ-1 Predator has been in use since 1995 and preformed thousands of missions. The Predator is used as a recon vehicle, but the MQ-1 Predator (above) comes equipped with Hellfire II laser guided missiles. So it is not only a stealth recon UAV but also a stealth bomber. Not only does the US military employ Predator they have just recently begun using the CQ-10A SnowGoose(above). It is a UAV cargo carrier. It is great for reaching small Special Forces teams in remote locations. It has a 20 hour fly time and has a payload of 600 lbs. This UAV insures the safety of the helicopter crews that, until recently, would have risked their lives to fly supplies into those Special Forces teams. Now it takes one piolet and a joystick to achieve the same results.