SHOULDERING THE BURDEN: Sgt. Elijah Tovar with the 2nd Squadron of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment Fox Crew, prepares to launch an RQ-11 Raven drone to conduct surveillance in the training area and locate possible targets during Freedom Shield 24, March 14, 2024, in South Korea. (Photo by Spc. Victoria Morgan, 100th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
From humble surveillance to formidable battlefield assets, drones are reshaping modern warfare with advanced capabilities.
by Cheryl Marino
An unusual object streaks across the sky, sparking curiosity from the ground. Not a bird, not a plane—but it might be a drone.
Today, commercial drones are spotted everywhere it seems. Hovering high above trees and open fields for recreational use, photography or agricultural maintenance. Or for official means, floating overhead for the management of traffic, public events or crowd monitoring.
For the military, drones—more commonly referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—soar strategically above the battlefield and beyond for use in surveillance and reconnaissance, combat support, force protection, electronic warfare, precision strikes, training and testing.
These UAVs evolved from basic reconnaissance tools to versatile, lethal weapons over several decades, with significant advancements in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), enhanced navigation systems, anti-jamming capabilities and advanced satellite communications enable today’s drones to execute missions with unprecedented accuracy and stealth, while ensuring operational safety in increasingly contested spaces.
“We are learning from the battlefield—especially in Ukraine—that aerial reconnaissance has fundamentally changed,” said Gen. Randy A. George, Army chief of staff, in a February 2024 press release. “Sensors and weapons mounted on a variety of unmanned systems and in space are more ubiquitous, further reaching and more inexpensive than ever before. I am confident the Army can deliver for the Joint Force, both in the priority theater and around the globe, by accelerating innovation, procurement and fielding of modern unmanned aircraft systems [UAS], including the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System [FTUAS], launched effects [small drones] and commercial small, unmanned aircraft systems.”
A UAS includes not only the UAV or drone, but also the person on the ground controlling the flight and the system in place that connects them both, making the UAV a component of the UAS.
The progression of UAVs in warfare highlights a shift towards intelligent and autonomous systems capable of decisive actions in critical moments. But where did these strange suspended flying machines come from, and how did they evolve to become versatile weapons of war today and beyond?
IT BEGAN WITH A BUG: The 1917 Kettering Aerial Torpedo “Bug” was an unmanned aerial torpedo launched from a four-wheeled dolly that ran down a portable track. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the United States Air Force)
EARLY BIRDS
The first UAV traces its origins back to early 18th century France with the emergence of the hot-air balloon, which did not require a human pilot. The concept militarily led to the (ineffective) balloon bombings used by Austrian forces to besiege Venice in 1849, and a decade later, to the first UAV hot-air balloon camera and aerial photograph in 1858—sadly lost in history.
In the U.S., the Kettering Bug, a pilotless biplane designed by Charles F. Kettering of Dayton, Ohio and developed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I for delivering explosives to enemy targets, has been cited as one of the earliest examples of a UAV.
The U.S. Army aircraft board, in 1917, tasked Kettering with designing a weapon that could strike enemy positions from a distance without risking human pilots’ lives, so he invented an unmanned aerial torpedo, nicknamed the “Bug,” launched from a four-wheeled dolly that ran down a portable track, with a system of internal pre-set pneumatic and electrical controls that stabilized and guided it toward a target. Kettering’s design, formerly called the “Kettering Aerial Torpedo,” later became known as the Kettering Bug, a flying machine capable of striking ground targets up to 75 miles from its launch point while traveling at speeds of 50 miles per hour.
Despite some modest success, the “Bug” was never used in combat due to reliability concerns so by the time the war ended, only 45 Kettering Bugs had been produced.
In World War II, a small radio-controlled aircraft designed by engineer Walter Righter was further developed as the Radioplane OQ-2 by actor and inventor Reginald Denny, becoming the first mass-produced UAV during the early 1940s. Initially intended for use as a target drone for training anti-aircraft gunners during the war. The simple aircraft, powered by a two-cylinder two cycle piston engine, led to a series of similar (but improved) variants during the war with nearly 15,000 Radioplane drones manufactured.
During the Cold War era the Ryan Firebee, a high-speed, jet-powered aerial target took things a bit farther. Primarily used for reconnaissance and target practice, it marked a shift towards more sophisticated UAVs capable of enduring longer flights and carrying various intelligence gathering sensors. This target drone was so successful that variants are still in service today.
GOOD, BUT COULD BE BETTER
The development of these early drones laid the foundation for the advanced UAVs used today in modern military operations.
By the 1980s, seeing Israel’s success with its Scout drone—a small, difficult to shoot down UAV that could transmit real-time video images through a television camera in its central turret—the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines acquired more than 20 of Israel’s RQ-2 Pioneer drones (later replaced by the RQ-7B Shadow) in 1986. The Pioneer contained some of the same foundational technology developed for the Scout drone, with significant advancements and enhancements making it a more capable and versatile UAV. The RQ-2 Pioneer became the first small inexpensive UAV in the modern American military forces.
Significant advancements in drone technology continued through the 1990s, particularly with the development of the RQ-1 Predator, by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which was capable of flying over dangerous areas for extended periods. Originally designed for reconnaissance, the Predator was equipped with surveillance capabilities, and the introduction of satellite communication links allowed for remote piloting and real-time data transmission over long distances.
REAPING BENEFITS: A remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper from the 163rd Attack Wing sits in a 178th Wing hanger on Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base, Ohio, March 12, 2024. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Moeger, U.S. Army National Guard)
SKY’S THE LIMIT LETHALITY
While the potential for UAVs has been recognized for decades, the 21st century marked the significant transformation of drones into formidable tools of warfare.
In 2002, the RQ-1 Predator was fitted with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, transforming it into the MQ-1 Predator, capable of conducting precision strikes. Its use played a crucial role in targeted strikes in conflict zones like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan during the Global War on Terror.
But perhaps one of the most widely recognized military drones is the MQ-9 Reaper, known for its long endurance, high-altitude operations and ability to carry a variety of weapons. The Reaper is a larger and more heavily armed version of the MQ-1 Predator and is often referred to as a hunter-killer drone. Its primary use is for attacking time-sensitive targets, but it’s also used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
While the Predator’s role is to focus on targets and provide situational awareness for pilots, the RQ-Global Hawk provides much broader systematic surveillance using high resolution synthetic aperture radar and long-range electro-optical/infrared sensors. The Hawk, technically a UAS—equipped for safe and efficient operation without direct human intervention in or on the aircraft—can hover at altitudes of 60,000 feet over target areas for long periods of time (greater than 30 hours), in all kinds of weather, and can survey as much as 100,000 km2 a day—an area three times the size of Maryland.
In contrast, the RQ-11 Raven, manufactured by AeroVironment, Inc. is a small, portable, hand-launched UAS designed for rapid deployment and high-mobility mostly for military operations like low altitude reconnaissance, surveillance and autonomous operation.
The Raven provides forward deployed units with real-time, up to date and over-the-horizon views, and delivers color or infrared video via three cameras in its nose section without having to put Soldiers in harm’s way. It has a flight time of 80 minutes and an effective range about 10 km (or 6.2 miles) and can even stand by itself. AeroVironment claims Raven to be “the most widely used UAS in the world today, with over 20,000 units sold.”
SIGN OF TRANSITORY TIMES
As a sign of the changing times, in 2008, the New York Air National Guard 174th Attack Wing became the first fighter unit to transition to entirely unmanned combat, trading their F-16 cockpits for air-conditioned trailers in the desert, where they remotely piloted MQ-9 Reapers—as depicted in the 2015 movie “Good Kill,” starring Ethan Hawke as an Air Force drone pilot.
The MQ-9 Reaper is slated to be replaced by 2030 with the developmental MQ-20 Avenger (formerly Predator C) or at least its technology, which has been around since the early 2000s but is not yet ready for active duty. It is, however, advanced enough for use as a test platform for other technologies. Unlike predecessors MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, the Avenger is powered by a turbofan engine and its design includes stealth features like internal weapons storage and S-shaped exhaust for reduced infrared and radar signatures. It can also fly up to 18 hours, reaching speeds of 400 mph and altitudes up to 50,000 feet. Its main mission is combat, as it carries an assortment of bombs and missiles attached to its six external hardpoints or inside the weapons bay that can hold up to 3,500 pounds.
SHADOW CASTING: An AAI RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle is launched by U.S. Army Soldiers of Delta Co., 104th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey Army National Guard, at McGregor Base Camp, New Mexico, Feb. 19, 2024. The 44th IBCT is conducting training exercises at multiple sites on Fort Bliss, Texas in preparation for deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Bruce Daddis)
COMPETING CAPABILITIES
In 2018, the Army began considering the replacement of the Textron RQ-7B Shadow (which replaced the RQ-2 Pioneer) drone, a widely used, yet accident-prone, unmanned aerial system developed in the early 2000s. The Shadow included four aircraft, two vehicle-mounted ground control stations, a generator and backup equipment and took more than two dozen Soldiers to operate.
The FTUAS “will replace the currently fielded RQ-7B Shadow in ground brigade combat teams, with a low to medium altitude aircraft with modern datalinks, electro-optical/infra-red sensors, intra-red/laser pointer/laser designator/laser range finder, data encryption, manned-unmanned teaming capabilities and the ability to operate autonomously,” according to a Program Executive Office (PEO) for Aviation press release in 2020. “Designed with a Modular Open Systems Approach, FTUAS payloads will be easily interchangeable. The FTUAS will be readily deployable using Chinook helicopters and provide commanders more flexibility on the battlefield.”
In 2022, the Army awarded an $8 million contract to AeroVironment, Inc. to provide its Jump 20 drone for the first increment of FTUAS, and, in the following year, tapped Griffon Aerospace and Textron Systems for the next phase of its rapid prototyping program.
“FTUAS provides the brigade with an organic capability to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance operations that collect, develop and report actionable intelligence, allowing the warfighter to maintain dominance during multidomain operations,” the Army stated in an April 25, 2024 press release. Meaning FTUAS provides transformational capabilities including VTOL, or vertical takeoff and landing, for runway independence, on-the-move command and control, Soldier-led field level maintenance and enables rapid capability insertions, “further allowing the system to keep pace with technology.”
The first two options included evaluations of system performance, the modular open systems approach, cost, schedule and program risk, culminating in a preliminary design review and critical design review, the press release stated.
Option 3 includes flight demonstrations from Textron’s Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ, and Griffon’s Valiant, modular open systems approach third-party verification as well as Soldier touch points and testing of key systems characteristics such as vertical takeoff and landing. Production representative prototypes will be delivered during Option 4 and will culminate in a production readiness review. “Exercising FTUAS Options 3 and 4 simultaneously allows for the execution of a thorough and deliberate development test plan,” according to PEO Aviation. With “first unit issued” set for 2025.
An Abbreviated Capabilities Development Document was approved on May 17, 2024, setting up a prototyping development plan for the capability. Due to funding limitations for an accelerated fielding timetable, investments are being made in fiscal year 2025 to purchase prototypes to be flown over the next few years to evaluate their sensors and other features and determine the best options.
CONCLUSION
From hot-air balloons and early reconnaissance to lethality and MQ-9 Reaper readiness, the slow, but steady, evolution of drones through the decades highlights significant advancements in aerial technology.
The future of drones is in autonomy, with developments focused on reducing human intervention and increasing operational efficiency. Autonomous drones equipped with artificial intelligence algorithms can analyze data in real-time, make decisions and adapt to highly contested environments. These advancements, along with continued enhancements in drone technology, will be essential for the Army of 2030 to maintain superiority in modern warfare.
For more information go to https://www.army.mil/PEOAviation.
CHERYL MARINO provides contract support to the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as a writer and editor for Army AL&T magazine and TMGL, LLC. Prior to USAASC, she served as a technical report editor at the Combat Capabilities Development Command Center at Picatinny Arsenal for five years. She holds a B.A. in communications from Seton Hall University and has more than 25 years of writing and editing experience in both the government and private sectors.
