Drones, also known as Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs). Actor Reginald Denny died in 1967. It was reported in 1981, Reginald's company, Radio Plane Co. had developed drones for the Army in 1938. Charles Hillinger of the Los Angeles Times mentioned Radio Plane Co. became a subsidiary of Northrop's Ventura Division in 1962. Northrop's was the world leader in development and production of pilotless planes. Since World War II, Radio Plane Co. had "blossomed into a multi-million-dollar industry". From 1946, over 65,000 pilotless planes, used by some 21 nations, were said had been produced by Radio Plane Co. and Northrop's. "The drones sell for as little as $25,000 each and as much as $100,000 (in those days currency)," it was understood. "Average life expectancy for a drone is 5 flights. The record number of flights for one of the pilotless planes before being knocked out in target practice was said to be 64 missions."
In December 1986, Jack Anderson and Dale Van Atta reported for the Washington's Daily Record, "Flying drones may become the workhorse of the intelligence business. Already, some are operating as spy planes. The Israelis demonstrated the usefulness of drones in Lebanon (in 1982) where they provided 'live' television coverage of Syrian and other forces, tricked 19 anti-aircraft missile sites into turning on their radars (thus giving away their locations) and served other battlefield purposes. Oddly enough, it was the Americans' use of drones in Vietnam that led to Israel's interest. Jet-powered target drones launched from transport planes flew more than 3000 reconnaissance missions in Vietnam, and it was an American engineer, Alvin Ellis, who sold the Israeli military on drones in 1974. His concept was in effect an oversize remote-control model airplane equipped with a small TV camera.
"The advantages of drones over manned aircraft are many and obvious: They cost a relative pittance compared to the price of fighters and reconnaissance planes. Needing none of the equipment that keeps pilots alive, drones burn a fraction of the fuel used by manned planes and can also be maneuvered at speeds that no pilot could withstand. Their ground controllers are far cheaper to train than pilots – and of course when a drone is shot down, no one is killed or captured. The drone is extremely hard to knock down because of its tiny radar 'signature' – derived from its size of not more than about 14 feet – and from its minimal heat output, which thwarts infra-red trackers and heat-seeking missiles. Its single, muffled low-horsepower engine makes little noise, and at high altitudes the drone is practically invisible. The Army, Navy, and CIA are more enthusiastic about the drone, and the Marines are experimenting with a remote-control helicopter.
"The Soviets, alerted to the drone’s usefulness in Lebanon, have deployed dozens already with Syrian troops. A secret CIA report predicts that the Soviets will eventually produce hundreds, possibly thousands, for mass deployment in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile the Israeli drone producer, Mazlat, is promoting the little planes' civilian potential. Among the missions that could be cheaply and effectively handled by a drone are police observation of smuggling or other criminal activity; pipeline patrols checking for sabotage or natural threats; river patrols; disaster rescue coordination; patrols of offshore oil rigs and livestock surveys over vast areas of open range."
Knight-Ridder Newspapers reported in 1991, the Pioneers – intelligence-gathering drones – were being used in the Persian Gulf. "Advantages offered by the drones are obvious: small, made mostly of plastics and virtually silent, they do not alarm their targets and are cheap, hard to spot on radars and unflinching in combat," it was explained. At the time, marines in the Saudi desert were using a "few dozen" smaller drones called the Pointers - 9-pound aircraft with 9-foot wingspans that are launched by hand-like javelins and powered by silent battery-driven propellers."
"Historically, military technology has progressed in quantum leaps," Tom Tiede of Newspaper Enterprise Association made the point 1979. "First there was the stone, perhaps, then the club, fire, the lance, the bow, gunpowder and the internal combustion engine…The Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) say warriors of the future will utilize sensors and infrared devices to strip away darkness, and kinetic energy shells to pierce any armor on earth. Soldiers may even use new forms of microscopic life to despoil the enemy's potentials. On land, the concept of massed armies my one day give way to small, swift, highly mobile mechanized forces. Machine versus machine may be the war of tomorrow.
"At sea, the aircraft carriers and other bulky ships may be replaced by unmanned submarines who do the bidding of computers. The submarines, far smaller than those of today (back in 1979), may be able to fly to a destination, or be air dropped, and then dive with fantastic speeds to seek out and destroy the enemy's U-boats." DARPA insisted, "We'll be able to sense a sneeze in the ocean 500 miles away."
DARPA stressed the machines would be vulnerable, as are people, but they will be superior fighters. The coming generation of satellites will also make possible remote-controlled warfare in the skies. Aerial battles in the next century (the 21st century) may be fought by drone planes, and the satellites will be the intellectual link between them and headquarters. So if a bomb is to be dropped, the satellites will compute and relay the order. The satellites would not have total authority over the drones, however. Ground technicians will have the rank. The technicians would witness the battle scenes on television, and choose tactics from the rapidly changing computer data. Sky wars, then, may be waged by men in front of TV monitors. And yet the TV screens will lose their influence if the skirmishes are fought higher up in the sky." DARPA stated, "A primary goal of weapons research is to find a way to 'blind' the enemy. If the other side loses its satellite system, it would lose the ability to conduct itself effectively in the arena of technological war."
"The advantages of drones over manned aircraft are many and obvious: They cost a relative pittance compared to the price of fighters and reconnaissance planes. Needing none of the equipment that keeps pilots alive, drones burn a fraction of the fuel used by manned planes and can also be maneuvered at speeds that no pilot could withstand. Their ground controllers are far cheaper to train than pilots – and of course when a drone is shot down, no one is killed or captured. The drone is extremely hard to knock down because of its tiny radar 'signature' – derived from its size of not more than about 14 feet – and from its minimal heat output, which thwarts infra-red trackers and heat-seeking missiles. Its single, muffled low-horsepower engine makes little noise, and at high altitudes the drone is practically invisible. The Army, Navy, and CIA are more enthusiastic about the drone, and the Marines are experimenting with a remote-control helicopter.
"The Soviets, alerted to the drone’s usefulness in Lebanon, have deployed dozens already with Syrian troops. A secret CIA report predicts that the Soviets will eventually produce hundreds, possibly thousands, for mass deployment in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile the Israeli drone producer, Mazlat, is promoting the little planes' civilian potential. Among the missions that could be cheaply and effectively handled by a drone are police observation of smuggling or other criminal activity; pipeline patrols checking for sabotage or natural threats; river patrols; disaster rescue coordination; patrols of offshore oil rigs and livestock surveys over vast areas of open range."
Knight-Ridder Newspapers reported in 1991, the Pioneers – intelligence-gathering drones – were being used in the Persian Gulf. "Advantages offered by the drones are obvious: small, made mostly of plastics and virtually silent, they do not alarm their targets and are cheap, hard to spot on radars and unflinching in combat," it was explained. At the time, marines in the Saudi desert were using a "few dozen" smaller drones called the Pointers - 9-pound aircraft with 9-foot wingspans that are launched by hand-like javelins and powered by silent battery-driven propellers."
"Historically, military technology has progressed in quantum leaps," Tom Tiede of Newspaper Enterprise Association made the point 1979. "First there was the stone, perhaps, then the club, fire, the lance, the bow, gunpowder and the internal combustion engine…The Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) say warriors of the future will utilize sensors and infrared devices to strip away darkness, and kinetic energy shells to pierce any armor on earth. Soldiers may even use new forms of microscopic life to despoil the enemy's potentials. On land, the concept of massed armies my one day give way to small, swift, highly mobile mechanized forces. Machine versus machine may be the war of tomorrow.
"At sea, the aircraft carriers and other bulky ships may be replaced by unmanned submarines who do the bidding of computers. The submarines, far smaller than those of today (back in 1979), may be able to fly to a destination, or be air dropped, and then dive with fantastic speeds to seek out and destroy the enemy's U-boats." DARPA insisted, "We'll be able to sense a sneeze in the ocean 500 miles away."
DARPA stressed the machines would be vulnerable, as are people, but they will be superior fighters. The coming generation of satellites will also make possible remote-controlled warfare in the skies. Aerial battles in the next century (the 21st century) may be fought by drone planes, and the satellites will be the intellectual link between them and headquarters. So if a bomb is to be dropped, the satellites will compute and relay the order. The satellites would not have total authority over the drones, however. Ground technicians will have the rank. The technicians would witness the battle scenes on television, and choose tactics from the rapidly changing computer data. Sky wars, then, may be waged by men in front of TV monitors. And yet the TV screens will lose their influence if the skirmishes are fought higher up in the sky." DARPA stated, "A primary goal of weapons research is to find a way to 'blind' the enemy. If the other side loses its satellite system, it would lose the ability to conduct itself effectively in the arena of technological war."
