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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the most dynamic field of aerospace technology, and potentially the harbingers of new aviation technology and tactics. They have only emerged from the shadows in recent years, but in fact have been in use for several decades. After some limited use in World War II, UAVs began to emerge as a substitute for manned reconnaissance aircraft in the 1950s for missions too dangerous to risk an aircrew. They were used in significant numbers in the Vietnam War, but also on less heralded missions such as spy flights over China in the 1950s and 1960s.
The contemporary UAV began to emerge in the 1980s due to the advent of new technologies. The Israeli air force pioneered the use of small UAVs during the War of Attrition. These drones were fitted with modern video cameras that could send back their information in real time, instead of the previous technology which required the drone to return to the base for film processing. The combination of small, inexpensive airframes and cameras made the UAV suitable for a much wider range of mission than previously possible. Operation Desert Storm saw the first extensive use of UAVs, primarily for artillery spotting and reconnaissance. However, UAVs did not become a household name until this century with the widespread use of UAVs over Iraq and Afghanistan. In the new age of information warfare, UAVs are the work-horses of the intelligence forces, gathering critical intelligence around the clock in the most remote corners of the globe. These conflicts also pointed in new directions such as the hunter-killer drones - UAVs armed with missiles that could not only locate targets but attack them as well. This is the first step in the direction of a new category of unmanned aircraft, the UCAV (Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle) which many airpower theorists see as the future of strike aviation over the next few decades. This book will reflect on the development of this unique and mysterious technology, revealing how it has changed combat through the years and speculating on its potential to transform the nature of warfare in the future.
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