A Brief History of Drones: The Remote Controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (uavs)

Automatons, otherwise known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are pilotless and non-maintained aircraft that are capable of flight either by remote control or using onboard computers. Other names for these types of aircraft include remotely piloted vehicle (RPV), remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), and remotely operated aircraft (ROA).

Early History of Drones

Automatons are primarily used by the military, but they are also being implemented in search and rescue operations and used in other civilian applications such as policing and firefighting. The technology is also allowing specialists and other enthusiasts to become passionate drone operators, albeit on a much smaller scale.

An automaton is capable of controlled, managed level flight and is powered by a jet, reciprocating, or electric motor. UAVs differ from cruise missiles in that automatons are recovered after a mission is completed, while a cruise missile impacts its target. Military UAVs may carry and fire weapons, while a cruise missile is an ammunition.

Early Concepts of Unmanned Aerial Flight

The concept of unmanned aerial flight is not a new one. The idea first became known on August 22, 1849, when Austria attacked the Italian city of Venice with unmanned balloons that were loaded with explosives. Several balloons were launched from the Austrian ship Vulcano. While some balloons reached their intended targets, most were caught in changing winds and were blown back over Austrian lines.

The system was being worked on for a long time, and a record of the country's arrangement appeared in an article in a Vienna newspaper at the time:

"Venice is to be attacked by balloons, as the lagoons keep the drawing closer of artillery. Five balloons, each twenty-three feet in diameter, are in development at Treviso. In an ideal wind, the balloons will be launched and directed as close to Venice as possible, and on their being carried to vertical positions over the town, they will be fired by electro-magnetism via a long-disconnected copper wire with a large galvanic battery set on a building. The bomb falls perpendicularly and explodes upon reaching the ground."

While these early automatons do not generally meet the present definition of a UAV, the idea was solid enough that once winged aircraft had been designed, the concept was still very much viable and would soon be implemented again.

The First Pilotless Aircraft

The first pilotless aircraft were developed during and soon after World War I. The first was the "Aeronautical Target," created in 1916. It was intended to take down Zeppelins but never flew. Shortly after, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane (the flying bomb) made its maiden flight, demonstrating the concept of unmanned aircraft. This UAV was intended for use as an aerial torpedo, an early version of modern cruise missiles. Control of these aircraft was achieved using gyroscopes.

In November 1917, the Automatic Airplane was demonstrated for the US Army. Upon the success of this demonstration, the Army commissioned a project to build an aerial torpedo, which became known as the Kettering Bug and flew in 1918. While the technology was successful, it was not used in battle during wartime, which ended before the UAV could be developed and deployed.

Advancements in UAV Technology Post-WWI

Several successors were produced during the period after WWI and before WWII. These included the Larynx, tested by the Royal Navy between 1927 and 1929; the radio-controlled Fairey "Queen" developed by the British in 1931; and the British follow-up UAV "DH.82B Queen Bee" in 1935. Also following the earlier work by the Army, the US Navy continued to advance UAV technology, experimenting with radio-controlled aircraft. In 1936, the term "drone" was first coined, as the head of the Navy's research group used it to describe radio-controlled aerial targets.

The Role of Drones During WWII

During the technological boom of WWII, drones were used both as training tools for antiaircraft gunners and for aerial assault missions. Nazi Germany also produced and used various UAVs during WWII. After the war, jet engines were added to drones, with the first being the Teledyne Ryan Firebee I of 1951. By 1955, the Model 1001, developed by Beechcraft, was produced for the US Navy — these UAVs were just remote-controlled planes until the Vietnam Era.