In 1933, in the UK, based on the Fairy Queen biplane, the first unmanned, radio-controlled reusable aerial vehicle was created, called the H.82B Queen Bee.
H.82B Queen Bee
It was then that the era of drones began. Subsequently, this unit was used as an air target in the Royal Navy from 1934 to 1943. A total of 405 target aircraft were manufactured.
The first combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was a German aircraft - a projectile (cruise missile, in modern terminology) V-1 ("Fieseler-103"), with a pulsating jet engine, which could be launched both from the ground and from the air.
V-1 projectile
The projectile control system is an autopilot that keeps the projectile at the course and altitude set at the start during the entire flight.
The flight range is controlled using a mechanical counter, on which, before the start, the value corresponding to the required range is set, and the blade anemometer, placed on the projectile nose and rotated by the incoming air flow, twists the counter to zero upon reaching the required range (with an accuracy of ± 6 km). At the same time, the warhead fuses are cocked, and a dive command is issued.
In total, about 25,000 units of this "miracle weapon" were produced. Of these, about 10,000 were launched across England, 3200 fell on its territory, of which 2419 reached London, causing losses of 6184 people killed and 17 981 wounded. V-1 strikes could not affect the course of the war, but they had no small moral effect and required great efforts to counter.
The USA launched production of the Radioplane OQ-2 target UAV for training pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. Also in 1944, the world's first classic reusable strike UAV, the Interstate TDR, was used.
UAV Interstate TDR
The cheapness predetermined the low flight characteristics - the speed of the vehicle during the tests did not exceed 225 km / h, and the range was 685 km.
The car took off from a conventional airfield or from an aircraft carrier using a drop-wheel landing gear. In its bow there was a transparent fairing covering the control TV camera. Located in the bow, the Block-I TV camera had a 35-degree viewing angle.
The aircraft was controlled by radio from the control aircraft following the drones. The operator saw the image transmitted by the machine's TV camera using a disc-shaped screen. A standard joystick was used to control direction and angle. The flight altitude was set remotely using a dial, as well as the landing gear drop and the shooting of a torpedo or bomb.
Practice has shown the impossibility of the intended targeted drop of bombs from an aircraft. It was decided that to simplify the already protracted development and training program, the pilots would attack targets only by dropping torpedoes or by ramming an aircraft in a dive. A number of problems with equipment and with the development of new technology led to the fact that interest in unmanned aircraft began to decline.
In total, more than 100 drones of this type were produced, some of them took part in the hostilities in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, there were certain successes, ground anti-aircraft batteries were attacked on Bougainville, in Rabaul and on about. New Ireland. The most successful were the last two attacks on New Ireland, completely destroying the strategic lighthouse at Cape St. George. In total, 26 aircraft out of 47 existing ones were used up in these attacks, 3 more crashed for technical reasons.
After the end of the war, the main efforts of the developers were focused on the creation of guided missiles and bombs. Drones were considered only as training radio-controlled targets for air defense systems and fighters.
Interest in UAVs began to revive, as the troops were saturated with anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) and the improvement of detection equipment. The use of UAVs made it possible to reduce the loss of manned reconnaissance aircraft, during aerial reconnaissance, and use them as decoys.
In the 60s and 70s, unmanned jet reconnaissance aircraft were created in the USSR: Tu-123 Yastreb, Tu-141 Strizh, Tu-143 Reis. All of them were quite large and heavy vehicles.
Tu-143 was produced about 950 units, delivered to the Middle East countries, including Iraq and Syria. Where he took part in the hostilities.
Tu-143 as part of the VR-3 complex
After serious aviation losses in Vietnam, interest in drones has also revived in the United States. Basically, they were used for photo reconnaissance, sometimes for electronic warfare purposes. In particular, the 147E UAVs were used to conduct electronic reconnaissance. Despite the fact that, ultimately, the drone was shot down, it transmitted the characteristics of the Soviet S-75 air defense system to the ground point throughout its flight, and the value of this information was commensurate with the full cost of the unmanned aerial vehicle development program. It also saved the lives of many American pilots, as well as aircraft over the next 15 years, until 1973. During the war, American UAVs made almost 3,500 flights, with losses of about four percent. The devices were used for photo reconnaissance, signal relaying, reconnaissance of electronic means, electronic warfare and as decoys to complicate the air situation.
Subsequent developments and technical advances have caused significant changes in the understanding of the leadership of the US Department of Defense of the role and place of UAVs in the weapons system. Since the mid-1980s, US aircraft manufacturing companies have begun to develop and create automated unmanned systems for tactical and operational-strategic purposes.
In the 1970s and 1990s and subsequent years, Israeli military specialists, scientists and designers made a significant contribution to the development of unmanned vehicles.
For the first time, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) faced the urgent need to have unmanned aerial vehicles during the War of Attrition (1969-1970). Static hostilities took place simultaneously on three fronts: against Syria, Jordan, but primarily against Egypt. Then the demand for aerial photography of ground objects increased sharply, but the Israeli Air Force found it difficult to satisfy all the requests. Often the subjects of the shooting were covered with a powerful air defense system. In 1969, a group of Israeli officers experimented with installing cameras in the housing of commercial radio-controlled models. With their use, photographs of the Jordanian and Egyptian positions were obtained. The leadership of military intelligence demanded a UAV with higher tactical and technical characteristics, primarily with a longer flight range, and the Air Force command at that time, on the recommendation of the group to “buy UAVs,” was preparing to purchase jet unmanned aircraft from the United States.
In March 1970, an Israeli Air Force delegation left for the United States. At the end of July of the same year, a contract was signed with the American company Teledyne Ryan for the development of the Firebee Model 124I (Mabat) reconnaissance UAV and the production of 12 such devices for Israel. After 11 months, the cars were delivered to Israel. On August 1, 1971, a special squadron was created for their operation - the 200th, the first UAV squadron in the Israeli Air Force.
Notable developments and models ordered by the Israeli Air Force in the United States were modifications of unmanned aircraft of the Firebee family - the Mabat reconnaissance UAV (Model 124I, Model 147SD) and the Shadmit target UAV (Model 232, Model 232B) manufactured by Teledyne Ryan, and also UAV-traps (false targets) to combat the enemy's air defense systems MQM-74A Chukar of the Northrop Grumman company, which received the name "Telem" in Israel. In 1973, these devices were used by Israel during the Arab-Israeli conflict ("Yom Kippur War") for observation, reconnaissance of ground targets and setting false air targets. Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft "Mabat" made aerial photography of the deployment of troops, anti-aircraft missile batteries, airfields, conducted reconnaissance of objects before air strikes and evaluated the results of these strikes. Shortly after the end of the 1973 war, the Israeli Air Force placed a second order for 24 Mabat vehicles. The approximate cost of this type of UAV with additional equipment was $ 4 million, the aircraft itself cost about $ 2 million. Unmanned aerial vehicles of the "Mabat" and "Telam" type were purchased until 1990 and were used in the Israeli Air Force until 1995 inclusive; Shadmit targets were in service with the Air Force until 2007.
UAV "Mastiff"
Along with orders and purchases of drones from US manufacturing firms, over the past several years, Israel has created its own powerful base for the design and construction of unmanned systems. The most active and far-sighted in the UAV strategy was the Israeli electronics manufacturer Tadiran. Thanks to the initiative of her director Akiva Meir, in 1974 she bought the rights to the improved Owl UAV from AIRMECO and from that moment became the first industrial manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles in Israel. Since 1975, Israel has switched to the development and production of its own UAVs, the first of which was the Sayar (export name Mastiff - Mastiff) of the Tadiran manufacturer. This unmanned aircraft was first introduced to the general public in 1978; he and his improved models were in service with military intelligence. By order of the Israeli Air Force, IAI has developed and created devices of the Scout type ("Scout"), in Hebrew - "Zakhavan". The first combat mission of the UAV-spy "Scout" performed on April 7, 1982 in Lebanon, after the operation "Peace for Galilee" (Lebanese war in 1982).
UAV "Scout"
In 1982, Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles were used during the fighting in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Small UAVs Mastiff of Tadiran and Scout of IAI carried out reconnaissance of Syrian airfields, SAM positions and troop movements. According to the information obtained with the help of the "Scout", the diverting group of the Israeli aviation, before the attack of the main forces, initiated the activation of the radar of the Syrian air defense systems, which were struck by homing anti-radar missiles. Those air defense systems that were not destroyed were suppressed by interference. The press reported that during the 1982 war, the finest hour of the IDF's anti-radar equipment came. On June 9, during Operation Artsav-19 against the Syrian air defense system in Lebanon, Phantom fighters fired at the air defense system about 40 new type of guided missiles - "Standard" (AGM-78 Standard ARM), and simultaneously struck ground weapons - "Kahlilit" and Keres. In the course of the operation, false air targets were also widely used - "Tel", "Samson" and "Delilah".
The success of the Israeli aviation at that time was truly impressive. The Syrian air defense system in Lebanon was defeated. Syria has lost 86 combat aircraft and 18 air defense systems.
The military experts invited by the Syrian leadership from the Soviet Union then concluded: the Israelis used a new tactic - a combination of UAVs with television cameras on board and missiles guided with their help. This was the first such spectacular use of unmanned aircraft.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many aircraft manufacturing companies and firms, not only in the United States and Israel, but also in other countries, began to engage in the development and production of UAVs. Separate orders for the development and delivery of UAVs acquired an interstate character: American companies supplied the Israeli Air Force with unmanned aircraft Mabat, Shadmit and Tellem; The Israeli company IAI signed contracts and supplied the Pioneer and Hunter systems to the US armed forces, the Searcher vehicles to the armies of Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and India. Serial production and the conclusion of contracts for the purchase of UAVs, as a rule, were preceded by long-term work on the selection of models and complexes with the study of the characteristics, test results and experience of the combat use of unmanned vehicles. For example, in South Africa, Kontron has developed the Seeker unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with a range of up to 240 km. He received his baptism of fire during the war in Angola in 1986.
Remotely piloted aircraft and autonomous UAVs were used by both sides during the 1991 Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), primarily as observation and reconnaissance platforms. USA, UK, and France have deployed and effectively used systems such as Pioneer, Pointer, Exdrone, Midge, Alpilles Mart, CL-89. Iraq used Al Yamamah, Makareb-1000, Sahreb-1 and Sahreb-2. During this operation, the coalition tactical reconnaissance UAVs made more than 530 sorties, flying about 1,700 hours. At the same time, 28 vehicles were damaged, including 12 that were shot down.
Reconnaissance UAVs have also been used in so-called UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia. In 1992, the UN authorized the use of NATO Air Force to provide air cover for Bosnia and support ground forces deployed throughout the country. To accomplish this task, it was required to conduct round-the-clock reconnaissance using unmanned vehicles. American UAVs flew over the territory of Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia. To conduct aerial reconnaissance in the Balkans, several Hunter vehicles from Israel were bought by the Air Forces of Belgium and France. In 1999, in order to support the actions of NATO troops and the bombing of objects on the territory of Yugoslavia, mainly American MQ-1 Predator UAVs were involved. According to media reports, they made at least 50 combat reconnaissance missions.
UAV MQ-1 Predator
The United States is a recognized leader in the development and production of UAVs. By the beginning of 2012, UAVs accounted for almost a third of the fleet of aircraft in service (the number of drones in the armed forces reached 7494 units, while the number of manned aircraft - 10,767 units). The most common vehicle was the RQ-11 Raven reconnaissance vehicle - 5346 units.
UAV RQ-11 Raven
The first attack UAV was the reconnaissance MQ-1 Predator, equipped with AGM-114C Hellfire missiles. In February 2002, this unit first struck an SUV allegedly owned by Osama bin Laden's accomplice, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Middle East again became the main region for the combat use of unmanned aerial vehicles. In the operations of the American armed forces in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, medium-altitude UAVs, in addition to reconnaissance, carried out laser target designation for weapons of destruction, and in some cases attacked the enemy with their onboard weapons.
With the help of drones, a real hunt for the leaders of al-Qaeda was organized.
In 2012, at least 10 strikes were inflicted, information about some of them became known:
On March 12, 2012, UAVs, presumably American, attacked military depots of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group in the area of the city of Jaar (Abyan province in southern Yemen). Six missiles were fired. No casualties or destructions were reported.
On May 7, 2012 in Yemen, as a result of an airstrike inflicted by an American UAV, one of the leaders of the Yemeni wing of Al-Qaeda, Fahd al-Qusa, was killed, whom the US authorities considered responsible for organizing the bombing of the destroyer Cole.
June 4, 2012in northern Pakistan, an air strike by an American UAV killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was considered the second man in al-Qaeda.
On December 8, 2012, in Pakistan, an air strike by an American UAV killed Abu Zayed, who was considered by al-Qaeda to be the successor of Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed in June 2012.
The American MQ-9 Reaper drones were based in Pakistan, at the Shamsi airfield.
UAV MQ-9 Reaper
However, after making erroneous attacks on "civilian" objects and the death of "civilians", at the request of the Pakistani side, they left it.
Satellite image of Google Earth: American drones at Shamsi airfield
Currently, the infrastructure is being equipped and equipment is being installed for the use of strategic high-altitude reconnaissance RQ-4 "Global Hawk" in different parts of the world.
UAV RQ-4 "Global Hawk"
At the first stage, the task was set for their effective use in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. For this, it is planned to use the US Air Force base on the island of Sicily, on the territory of the Italian air force base "Sigonella".
The choice of the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV as the main means of conducting aerial reconnaissance and surveillance, including in the zone of Europe and Africa, is by no means accidental. Today this drone with a wingspan of 39.9 m can be called without exaggeration the actual uncrowned "king of drones". The device has a takeoff weight of about 14.5 tons and carries a payload of more than 1300 kilograms. He is able to stay in the air without landing or refueling for up to 36 hours, while maintaining a speed of about 570 kilometers per hour. The ferry range of the UAV exceeds 22 thousand kilometers.
Satellite image of Google Earth: RQ-4 "Global Hawk" at the base airfield
According to experts from the Northrop Grumman development company, the Global Hawk can cover the distance from Sigonella VVB to Johannesburg and back at one filling station. At the same time, the drone has characteristics that are truly unique for an air spy and controller. It is able, for example, to collect information using a wide range of special equipment installed on board - a synthetic beam aperture radar (developed by the Raytheon company), a combined optoelectronic / infrared reconnaissance system AAQ-16, an electronic reconnaissance system LR-100, other means. At the same time, the Global Hawk UAVs are equipped with a set of navigation and communication equipment, which allows the drones of this family to efficiently solve the tasks assigned to them (there are satellite communication and navigation systems, radio communication systems, data exchange systems, etc.).
In the US Armed Forces, the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV is seen as a replacement for the Lockheed U-2S high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It is noted that the drone surpasses the latter in its capabilities, in particular in the field of electronic intelligence.
The French Air Force used the Harfang unmanned aerial vehicle in Libya. The UAV was transferred to the Sigonella Italian Air Force Base (Sicily). It is used for reconnaissance flights in Libyan airspace as part of Operation Harmattan. This was reported by the French Ministry of Defense, which assigned the name "Harmattan" to the operations of its armed forces in Libya.
A brigade of 20 military personnel is engaged in the maintenance and support of UAV flights in Sicily. The UAV spends over 15 hours in the air every day. It is equipped with round-the-clock optoelectronic cameras.
UAV "Harfang"
The received intelligence data is immediately transmitted via satellite and other communication lines to the ground control center, where they are processed in real time.
The use of the Harfang UAV has strengthened the reconnaissance capabilities of France, which are provided by five Rafale fighters deployed at the Sigonell base, equipped with a new generation of digital reconnaissance containers.
Prior to that, they were in Afghanistan performing 511 flights with a total duration of 4250 hours.
The closest combat use of the UAV took place during the operation of the French forces in Africa.
In Mali, a week after the start of Operation Serval, the two Harfang long-range medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles based in neighboring Niger have flown over 1,000 hours in 50 flights. These devices, used by squadron 1/33 Belfort (Cognac, France), are used not only for reconnaissance and observation, but also for laser targeting of Atlantic-2 aircraft of the Navy and Air Force fighter-bombers. They turned out to be really necessary in every critical phase of Operation Serval., whether it is overseeing cities occupied by jihadists or the landing of the 2nd Airborne Regiment of the Foreign Legion in Timbuktu. One of the "Harfangs" even managed to break the record, having been in the air for more than 26 hours, thanks to a new configuration with smoother shapes of the devices.
The Israeli army widely used reconnaissance UAVs with video equipment in operations against neighboring Arab countries and the Hamas movement in the Palestinian enclave, primarily during bombing and operations in the Gaza Strip (2002-2004, 2006-2007, 2008-2009). A striking example of the use of UAVs was the second Lebanese war (2006-2007).
UAV Heron-1 "Shoval"
Unmanned aerial vehicles of Israeli and American production have the armed forces of Georgia. One of the most famous and indicative facts of the armed confrontation between Georgia and the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was the use of Georgian remotely piloted aircraft (RPV) of the Israeli-made Hermes-450 aircraft. Until a certain time, the Georgian military-political leadership rejected the fact that it had the power structures of this UAV at its disposal. However, the incident on April 22, 2008, when the Hermes-450 was shot down during the flight, forced Saakashvili to admit this fact.
RPV "Hermes-450"
The Hermes-450 RPV system is a multipurpose complex with a long-range remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft (RPV). It was created by the Israeli company Silver Arrow (a subsidiary of Elbit Systems) and is designed to conduct aerial reconnaissance, patrolling, adjusting artillery fire and supporting communications in the field.
The Russian armed forces very limitedly used the Pchela UAV of the Stroy-P complex during the "counter-terrorist operation" in the Caucasus. Which is considered obsolete today. With its help, operational interaction with the means of fire destruction of the MLRS "Smerch", "Grad", barrel artillery is carried out.
UAV "Bee"
However, there are no details of the application in open sources. Considering the small resource of "Bee" and the extremely limited number of complexes, the effect of their use was most likely not great.
The entry into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of new reconnaissance complexes with short-range UAVs of domestic production "Orlan-10" is planned for 2013.
In July 2012, the Sukhoi company was selected as the developer of the project for a heavy attack UAV with a take-off weight of, most likely, from 10 to 20 tons. Possible technical characteristics of the future device have not yet been disclosed. At the end of October it became known that the Russian companies Sukhoi and MiG signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles - MiG will take part in the project, the tender for which was previously won by Sukhoi.
