History of unmanned aerial vehicles facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are special aircraft that fly without a pilot on board. Some UAVs are called drones and can fly by themselves using computers. Others are called remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) and are controlled by a person from far away. UAVs can fly steadily and are powered by jet, piston, or electric engines. Today, these amazing aircraft are used for many different jobs in the sky.

UAVs are different from cruise missiles. A UAV is meant to come back after its job is done, while a cruise missile hits its target and is destroyed. Military UAVs can even carry and fire weapons, but a cruise missile is the weapon.

Early Flying Machines Without Pilots

Balloon Attacks in the 1800s

The very first time an unmanned flying object was used in war was in July 1849. Austrian forces were trying to capture the city of Venice. They launched about 200 incendiary balloons. Each balloon carried a bomb that was supposed to drop on the city using a timer. Most of these balloons missed their targets because the wind changed. Some even drifted back over the Austrian soldiers!

World War I: The First Pilotless Planes

The first real pilotless aircraft were built during World War I. A smart inventor named Archibald Low used his knowledge of radio to create a remotely controlled aircraft. His goal was to attack enemy airships called Zeppelins. Many British aircraft companies worked on these "drone weapons" in 1917 and 1918. Low's radio control system made it possible for these planes to fly without a pilot. He is often called the "father of radio guidance systems."

Soon after, in September 1917, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane flew for the first time. This "flying bomb" showed that unmanned aircraft could work. It was controlled by special spinning devices called gyroscopes. Later, the US Army developed the Kettering Bug, which first flew in 1918. Even though it was very advanced, the war ended before it could be used in battle.

Between the World Wars: Drones Take Shape

After World War I, people kept working on pilotless aircraft. The Larynx was an early cruise missile that could fly itself using an autopilot. In the 1930s, Britain and the US started making radio-controlled planes to use as targets for anti-aircraft gunners.

In 1935, the British made the "DH.82B Queen Bee," a radio-controlled target plane. It's believed that the name "Queen Bee" led to the word "drone" being used for pilotless aircraft. Around the same time, a Hungarian scientist named Kálmán Tihanyi worked on using television cameras to guide aircraft for defense. His ideas were so important that many of them were still used in drones even 50 years later!

World War II: Drones Go to War

Winston Churchill watches a de Havilland Queen Bee target drone launch in 1941.

Reginald Denny and the Radioplane

The first drone made in large numbers was created by Reginald Denny. He was an actor who loved model airplanes. In the 1930s, he opened a shop that grew into the "Radioplane Company." Denny thought cheap radio-controlled planes would be great for training anti-aircraft gunners. In 1940, his company won a contract to build the Radioplane OQ-2. They made almost 15,000 drones for the US Army during World War II!

An inventor named Edward M. Sorensen also played a big role. He invented the first radio-controlled aircraft that could fly out of sight. His patents allowed people on the ground to know what the plane was doing, like its altitude or speed.

Flying Bombs and Target Practice

The US Navy also experimented with radio-controlled aircraft in the 1930s. They used the Curtiss N2C-2 drone as a target for anti-aircraft practice. The US Army Air Forces also used older planes as "A-series" target drones. Later, they used the "PQ" designation for full-sized targets, like the Culver PQ-14 Cadet.

During World War II, the US even tried to use modified B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers as giant flying bombs. These were called "aerial torpedoes," but they weren't very successful. The "TDN-1" was another unmanned aircraft developed in 1940 that could carry a 1,000-pound bomb, but it was never used in battle.

In 1941, the Navy's "Project Fox" put a television camera in a drone. This allowed a person in another plane to control the drone by watching a screen. In 1942, this drone successfully hit a target ship with a practice torpedo from 20 miles away!

Pulsejet Engines and Flying Bombs

The V-1 flying bomb was the first cruise missile ever built. It was made in Germany and first tested in 1942. The V-1 was designed to hit London and was launched in huge numbers, sometimes more than a hundred a day. It flew using a special engine called a pulsejet.

After the war, the US Navy also used pulsejet-powered targets like the McDonnell TD2D Katydid and the Curtiss KD2C Skeet.

Balloon Bombs from Japan

Japan launched long-distance attacks on the US mainland using unmanned balloons called Fu-Go. These balloons used high-altitude winds to travel across the ocean. They were meant to cause forest fires and panic, but they didn't have a big impact.

The Cold War: Drones Get Smarter

Target Drones Evolve

After World War II, target drones continued to improve. The Radioplane OQ-2 led to a very successful series of target drones, like the OQ-19 and MQM-33. These drones were used for many years. Some target drones were even changed to become reconnaissance (spy) drones, like the MQM-57 Falconer in the mid-1950s.

Drones were also used as decoys to trick enemy radar. The McDonnell Douglas "ADM-20 Quail" was carried by B-52 Stratofortress bombers to help them get through enemy defenses. As combat aircraft became faster, new, faster target drones were needed. Northrop designed the Northrop AQM-35, a turbojet-powered target that could fly at twice the speed of sound.

Drones in Nuclear Tests

In 1946, eight B-17 Flying Fortress planes were turned into drones to collect dangerous radioactive data. They were controlled from the ground and from another B-17 in the air. These drones flew into radioactive clouds during nuclear tests to gather samples. The US Navy also used Grumman F6F Hellcat drones for similar tests.

Drones for Spying

In the late 1950s, drones started being used for spying. The Ryan Firebee drone, which was already good as a target, was tested for reconnaissance and worked very well. A series of spy drones called the Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug were used by the US to spy on North Vietnam, China, and North Korea in the 1960s and 1970s. Other secret spy drones like the Ryan "Model 154" and the Lockheed D-21 were also developed.

Soviet Union's Drones

The Soviet Union also developed many reconnaissance drones, but much of their work was kept secret. Some known Soviet drones include the Lavochkin La-17, Tupolev Tu-123, and Yakovlev Pchela.

Vietnam War: Spy Drones in Action

Yakolev Pchela-1K on its launcher.

By the late 1950s, the US mainly used the Lockheed U-2 spy plane. But when a U-2 pilot was shot down over the USSR in 1960, the US realized it needed unmanned planes to avoid capturing pilots. This led to a secret drone program called Red Wagon.

During the Vietnam War, the US Air Force used Ryan Firebee drones for spying. These drones were launched from modified Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport planes. After their missions, the drones would deploy parachutes and be picked up by helicopters.

Between 1967 and 1972, different models of the 147SC Lightning Bug flew more than half of all spy missions over enemy territory. On average, a drone flew three missions before it was lost. The most famous Lightning Bug was named "Tom Cat." It flew an amazing 68 missions before it was finally shot down over Hanoi in 1974. From 1964 to 1975, the US Air Force launched 3,435 Ryan spy drones, losing about 554 of them.

Iran–Iraq War: New Uses for Drones

During the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, Iran needed new ways to spy on the enemy. They developed the Qods Mohajer-1 drone. These drones flew 619 missions, taking nearly 54,000 photographs. Some images even show them armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), but it's not known if they used them in combat.

After the Wars: How Drones Were Launched

After the Vietnam War, people realized how useful robot aircraft were for spying. In the early days, target drones were often launched from other aircraft or from special rails using rockets or catapults. Most target drones didn't have landing gear, so they were usually recovered by parachute or by sliding on the ground. The US Air Force became very good at catching drones in mid-air with helicopters.

The Ryan 147SC flew the most combat missions during the war, with 1,651 flights. About 211 of these drones were lost. "Tom Cat" was the most successful, followed by "Budweiser" (63 missions), "Ryan's Daughter" (52 missions), and "Baby Duck" (46 missions).

The War on Terror: Armed Drones Emerge

The use of armed drones became very important after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The world saw how these drones could be used in combat.

Battlefield Drones

People's opinions about UAVs changed a lot after the Israeli Air Force won a big victory over the Syrian Air Force in 1982. Israel used UAVs along with piloted planes to trick enemy radar, jam electronic signals, and gather real-time video. This helped them destroy many Syrian aircraft with very few losses.

The US military now uses UAVs for many important jobs, like gathering electronic information and jamming enemy systems. These UAVs send data back in real time using fast internet links. The Predator RQ-1L UAV was first used in the Balkans in 1995 and later in Iraq and Afghanistan, proving to be very effective.

Tiny Drones

Another growing area in UAVs is miniature drones. These range from "micro aerial vehicles (MAVs)" that are super small to miniature UAVs that a soldier can carry and launch.

Drones That Fly Forever

The idea of a UAV that could stay in the air for a very long time has been around for decades. Now, it's a reality. These "endurance UAVs" can fly at low or high altitudes for extended periods. High-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAVs are now in full service. In 1998, an AAI Aerosonde drone named Laima was the first UAV to cross the Atlantic Ocean, flying for 26 hours.

Drones Powered by Beams

Scientists have also thought about using UAVs as a cheaper way to do things that satellites do, like studying the atmosphere or relaying communications. One idea was to power them using microwave beams or solar cells. In 1964, Raytheon showed how this could work by powering a helicopter with a microwave beam.

Later, in 1987, the Canadian Communications Research Center used an improved system to power a UAV with a 5-meter wingspan. This UAV flew in a circle, getting 150 watts of power from a microwave beam.

Solar-Powered Drones

DARPA's Vulture, a drone designed to fly for a very long time.

In the 1980s, people started focusing on aircraft powered by the sun. Solar cells aren't very efficient, and the sun's power isn't huge, so a solar-powered plane has to be very light. Dr. Paul B. MacCready and his company, AeroVironment, built the "Gossamer Condor" for human-powered flight. This led to the "Solar Challenger" and then to ideas for solar-powered UAVs.

A solar-powered UAV could theoretically stay in the air forever if it had a way to store power for night flying. In 1983, AeroVironment built a prototype called "High Altitude Solar (HALSOL)." It was a simple flying wing with a 30-meter (98-foot) span, powered by eight small electric motors. HALSOL was very light but strong. It was tested using batteries, and its design was proven to work. However, solar cell and energy storage technology weren't ready yet, so HALSOL was put away for later.

Amber: A Key Drone Project

In 1984, the US government started a project called "Amber" to build an endurance UAV. Amber was designed to be used for spying, gathering electronic information, or even as a cruise missile. It was 4.6 meters (15 feet) long, had an 8.54-meter (28 feet) wingspan, and could fly for 38 hours or more.

Amber had a unique V-shaped tail that protected its propeller during takeoff and landing. It was made of light plastic and composite materials. The first flights happened in 1986. Even though the Amber program was eventually stopped due to funding cuts, the company that designed it was bought by General Atomics. This company later developed Amber into the MQ-1 Predator, a very important operational drone.

Drones in the United States

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency uses unarmed MQ-9 Reaper drones to watch the border with Mexico. In 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed these drones to be used in US airspace for searching for disaster survivors. The Predator's infrared camera can find a person's heat signature from 10,000 feet up, making it great for search and rescue.

Recreational drones also became very popular in the United States around 2015.

Drones Over Canada

The Canadian government is thinking about buying UAVs for watching the Arctic. They want to use modified Global Hawk drones, which can fly very high, to handle the tough conditions in Canada's Far North.

Drones for Smaller Groups

In the past, only big groups like the US military could afford UAVs. But now, the cost of drone technology has dropped, making it available to smaller groups. For example, in 2004, the Lebanese group Hezbollah started using the Mirsad-1 UAV. Some reports say this drone was actually an Iranian Ababil-2 drone. Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East now use advanced UAVs, like the Houthis in Yemen, who used Samad drones in an attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia in 2019.

Images for kids

A BQM-74 Chukar III, a turbojet-powered aerial target drone.
A Radioplane OQ-3 target drone and its launcher in 1945.
A US Navy OQ-2 target drone shot down during a gunnery exercise in 1945.