By definition, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are remotely piloted or self-piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors,

communications equipment or other payloads. 1 The first UAVs introduced in the early 1900s were rudimentary in design with limited operational use. UAVs have now evolved into complex and extremely advanced autonomous systems capable of exploiting time and space due to the rapid technological revolution that continues today. This transformation is a direct result of significant advances to navigational systems, data links, computer processing, and sensor technologies. With the continued advances of these technologies, UAVs will be on the forefront of our globally integrated world impacting our daily lives as well as national security operations. UAVs have already altered how certain military operations and business are currently conducted. Therefore, it is imperative to detail these key technological innovations and breakthroughs thrusting UAVs to the forefront of the modern era. Evaluating how these capabilities are applied and their impacts will illustrate the dramatic effect UAVs play in our daily lives as well as military operations. UAVs were first designed and employed in the early part of the twentieth century and developed for use with military applications. Elmer Ambrose Sperry is known as the father of unmanned aircraft with ideas and innovations ahead of his time. Sperry partnered with the Navy and in 1918 demonstrated the first powered unmanned flights via a naval aerial torpedo. The torpedo launched into the air, flew 1,000 yards and dove into the sea at a predetermined location.2 This successful test would lead to further development in unmanned flight. In the 1920s, the U.S. military made further progress by demonstrating control of an unmanned aircraft via remote radio control.2 During 1930s and 1940s, UAVs were primarily produced as target drones in training scenarios for anti-aircraft gunners and applied in various other training environments.2 Conceptually, unmanned target drones were simple in design since the technology of the time limited their capabilities. Drones are still used today in training environments to test current and next generation air-to-air missile technology and are valuable U.S. military training assets.

During the 1950s, technological breakthroughs and innovations led to the development of reconnaissance UAVs equipped with advanced navigational systems.2 The SD-1 Observer was the first tactical reconnaissance UAV developed by Northrop Gruman. The SD-1s configuration was based on existing UAV designs with the addition of externally mounted cameras.2 The U.S. military took this basic configuration to further develop UAV target drones into effective surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s. The United States Air Force made a significant leap in UAV development during the 1960s by introducing the Lightning Bug. The Lightning Bugs design was based on the BQM-34 Firebee target drone previously developed by the Ryan Aeronautical company.3 The Firebee demonstrated early success as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft during development.3 Slight modifications enabled the Firebee to sustain longer flights at higher altitudes suitable for reconnaissance tasks. The Lightning Bug flew its first mission in Southeast Asia during the summer of 1964 and later completed over 3,400 tactical surveillance and reconnaissance missions during the Vietnam War. The UAV collected valuable imagery on enemy surface-to-air missile sites, prison camp locations and other significant military targets.3 Despite these successful operations, the U.S. decided not to expand its UAV research and development programs after the conclusion of the Vietnam conflict. At the time, the U.S. evaluated UAV applications as limited with little future relevance in military operations.4 Therefore, UAVs were not significantly used in U.S. military operations until the 1990s where they played a crucial role during Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. was not the only nation experimenting with and employing early UAVs. UAVs significantly impacted military operations in several countries over a relatively short period of time. The primary reasons for their increased applications were the development of lightweight composite structures, reliable digital flight control systems, miniaturized sensors and robust data links.6 In the

early 1970s, the Israeli government invested heavily in UAV research and design resulting in the Israeli Aircraft Industrys Scout UAV for their military.5 The Scout was developed from scratch and the first genuine remotely controlled UAV prototype with adequate sensors and stable electro-optic systems required for functionality on a small platform.5 The Scout possessed modest surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and operated at altitudes of 15,000 feet for six hour flight missions.6