APDR February 2020: Unmanned Aerial Systems a growing capability – Especially for the RAAF
With the advancement of unmanned technology, autonomous operations and artificial intelligence during the past two decades, the development of UAS has also taken similarly tremendous strides, and the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that improved acquisition and rapid dissemination of information have been important contributors to mission success.
However, the use of unmanned aircraft as target vehicles and air-to-surface weapons actually dates back to World War II with the introduction of relatively crude, radio-controlled systems. The first large scale use of such aircraft happened in the 1960s, when camera-equipped Ryan BQM-34 Firebee drones enjoyed great success during the Vietnam War, flying some 3,400 sorties over heavily defended North Vietnam conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions flying either pre-programmed routes or controlled by pilots hundreds of kilometres away.
Read more in the current issue of APDR (Free to read with registration or via Facebook/Linkedin): https://venturaapdr.partica.online/apdr/apdr-feb-2020/features/unmanned-aerial-systems-a-growing-capability-especially-for-the-raaf
