Unmanned attack aircraft appeared much earlier than is commonly believed. Behind the bloody exploits of the MQ-9 Reaper in Iraq and Afghanistan are hidden 70 years of the history of attack "drones", which have proven in practice the possibility of successful combat use of this type of technology.
Except for the handicrafts of enthusiasts who conducted unsuccessful experiments with radio-controlled biplanes in the 20s … 30s of the last century, the real history of shock UAVs began during the Second World War. The German "miracle weapon" "V-1" immediately comes to mind - the Fieseler Fi-103 projectiles with a pulsating jet engine, used to bomb large area targets - London, Antwerp, Liege, several missiles were fired at Paris.
Despite its grim fame, the V-1 only vaguely resembles modern UAVs. Their design and guidance system were too primitive. An autopilot based on a barometric sensor and a gyroscope guided the rocket in a given direction until the clockwork was triggered. The V-1 dived into a steep dive and disappeared in a blinding flash of explosion. The accuracy of such a system was hardly enough even for terror against large enemy cities. The fascist "wunderwaffle" turned out to be useless for solving any specific tactical tasks.
The super-rocket "V-1" was a mediocre "rattle" against the background of a real miracle weapon, 70 years ahead of its time. The prototypes of modern "Reapers" and "Predators" should be looked for in the same place - overseas.
TV camera "Block-1"
An important event directly related to the creation of unmanned combat aircraft happened in 1940. Russian émigré engineer Vladimir Zvorykin received an unusual order from the US Navy to create a small-sized television camera weighing no more than 100 pounds (45 kg). A very strict requirement by the standards of those years when vacuum radio tubes were used instead of transistors.
Television camera Olympia-Kanone, 1936 Scan - 180 lines
Vladimir Kozmich Zvorykin, who had already made a name for himself on the creation of the cathode-ray tube and the invention of modern television, successfully coped with the task. The "Block 1" TV camera, together with a battery and a transmitter, was placed in a pencil case measuring 66x20x20 cm and weighed only 44 kg. The viewing angle is 35 °. At the same time, the camera had a resolution of 350 lines and the ability to transmit video images over the radio channel at a speed of 40 frames per second!
A unique television camera was created by order of the naval aviation. It's easy to guess why the American pilots needed this system …
Interstate TDR-1
Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Navy launched a program to create an unmanned strike aircraft. Naval aviation needed a remotely controlled torpedo bomber capable of breaking through the air defense system of enemy ships without endangering the lives and health of the pilots.
Torpedo throwing is one of the most dangerous combat techniques: at this moment, the aircraft must strictly maintain the combat course, being in the immediate vicinity of the target. And then an equally dangerous evasive maneuver followed - at this moment the defenseless machine was right in front of the enemy anti-aircraft gunners. WWII torpedo pilots weren't too different from the kamikaze, and of course the Yankees were interested in the possibility of doing such a risky job with the help of soulless remote-controlled robots.
Japanese torpedo bomber in the attack. Photo taken from the aircraft carrier Yorktown
The first ideas for creating such a system were expressed in 1936 by US Navy Lieutenant Delmar Fairnley. Despite its sci-fi status, the program for the creation of an attack UAV acquired a priority (albeit not high against the background of other programs of the Navy) and got a start in life.
During the design, it turned out that to create such a machine, a couple of innovations are critically needed - a radio altimeter and a compact television camera with a sufficiently high resolution and the ability to transmit a signal at a distance. The Yankees already had a radio altimeter, and Mr. Zworykin kindly presented them with a television camera with the necessary parameters.
With the escalation of hostilities in the Pacific Ocean, the program to create an attack UAV received the highest priority and the code designation "Project Option". In April 1942, the first practical test of the system took place - a "drone", remotely controlled from an aircraft flying 50 km away, successfully launched an attack on the target, which was portrayed by the destroyer "Aaron Ward". The dropped torpedo passed exactly under the bottom of the destroyer.
Encouraged by the first successes, the leadership of the fleet expected to form 18 strike squadrons by 1943, which would be armed with 1,000 UAVs and 162 control aircraft built on the basis of the Avenger torpedo bombers.
The "drone" itself received the designation Interstate TDR-1 (Torpedo, Drone, "R" - the production index of the company "Interstate Aircraft"). The main qualities of the UAV were to be simplicity and mass character. Interstate's contractors included a bicycle factory and a piano manufacturer.
Interstate TDR-1 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation
The supercar was a frame made of pipes from bicycle frames, with plywood sheathing and a pair of unpretentious Lycoming O-435-2 220 hp motors. each. A detachable wheeled landing gear was used for takeoff from a coastal airfield or an aircraft carrier. The flight from the ship to the shore or to a neighboring airfield was carried out manually - for this there was a tiny open cockpit on board the drone with the simplest aerobatic instruments. When flying on a combat mission, it was covered with a fairing.
A Block-1 TV camera was installed in the nose of the aircraft, under a transparent fairing. Each television transmitter and receiver operated on one of four fixed radio channels - 78, 90, 112 and 114 MHz. The remote control system also operated on four fixed frequencies. This circumstance limited the number of UAVs simultaneously participating in the attack to four vehicles.
The combat load was 910 kg, which allowed the drone to lift one 2000 lb. bomb or aircraft torpedo.
The wingspan of the Interstate TDR-1 is 15 meters. Empty drone weight - 2700 kg. Cruising speed - 225 km / h. Combat radius - 425 miles (684 km), when flying one way.
The control plane, designated TBM-1C, looked no less surprising. The operator's seat has taken on the appearance of the cockpit of a fighter jet of the 80s - with a TV screen and a "joystick" for controlling the drone. Externally, the command "Avengers" were distinguished by a radome of antenna devices located in the lower part of the fuselage.
As further tests showed, the classic bombing from Interstate proved to be difficult - the operator did not have enough data to accurately aim and drop bombs. The drone could only be used as a torpedo bomber or cruise missile.
Despite the positive test results, the development of the new system was delayed. Nevertheless, by May 1944, TDR-1s were able to successfully complete the test cycle, flying from coastal air bases and a training aircraft carrier on Lake. Michigan.
One of the first prototypes of a remotely controlled UAV (TDN) on the deck of the Sable training aircraft carrier
By the time drones were put into service, the war in the Pacific had undergone a radical change. Major naval battles are a thing of the past, and the US Navy is no longer in dire need of radio-controlled torpedo bombers. In addition, the military was embarrassed by the too low flight characteristics of unmanned aircraft, which limited their use in serious combat operations. The priority of the program was reduced, and the order was limited to only 200 UAVs.
American kamikaze
By the summer of 1944, Special Task Air Group One (STAG-1) was finally on alert and deployed to a war zone in the South Pacific. On July 5, 1944, escort aircraft carrier Marcus Island delivered UAVs, control aircraft and STAG-1 personnel to the airbase on Russell Island (Solomon Islands). UAV pilots and operators immediately began testing equipment in conditions close to combat. On July 30, three "drones" attacked the Yamazuki Maru transport stranded and abandoned by the crew, which gave reason to believe that the UAVs were ready to perform real tasks. In September, two combat squadrons, VK-11 and VK-12, were formed from STAG-1.
The first combat flight of an attack UAV in the history of world aviation took place on September 27, 1944. The target of the "drone" from the VK-12 squadron was one of the Japanese transports off the coast of the Solomon Islands, turned into an anti-aircraft battery.
Here is how one of the pilots of the Command Avenger describes the attack:
“I remember well the excitement that gripped me when the outlines of the enemy ship appeared on the gray-green screen. Suddenly the screen charged and became covered with numerous dots - it seemed to me that the telecontrol system had malfunctioned. In a moment, I realized that these were anti-aircraft artillery shots! After adjusting the flight of the drone, I pointed it directly to the center of the ship. At the last second, a deck appeared right in front of my eyes - so close that I could see the details. Suddenly the screen turned into a gray static background … Obviously, the explosion killed everyone on board."
Over the next month, the crews of VK-11 and VK-12 conducted another two dozen successful attacks, destroying Japanese anti-aircraft batteries on the islands of Bougainville, Rabaul and on about. New Ireland. The last combat flight of drones took place on October 26, 1944: three UAVs destroyed a lighthouse occupied by the enemy on one of the Solomon Islands.
In total, 46 drones took part in the hostilities in the Pacific Ocean, of which 37 were able to reach the target and only 21 made a successful attack. In principle, a good result for such a primitive and imperfect system like Interstate TDR-1.
This was the end of the UAV's combat career. The war was drawing to a close - and the leadership of the fleet felt that there was no need to use such exotic means. They have enough brave and professional pilots.
The news from the battlefields reached the army generals. Not wanting to be inferior to the fleet in anything, the army ordered for itself one experimental prototype of the UAV, which received the designation XBQ-4. Tests on land showed not too optimistic results: the resolution of the Block 1 TV camera turned out to be insufficient for accurate identification of targets in conditions of a large number of contrasting objects. Work on the XBQ-4 was canceled.
As for the rest of the 189 built TDR-1 drones, they safely stood in the hangar until the end of the war. The further question of the fate of the unique flying machines was resolved with the pragmatism characteristic of the Americans. Some of them have been turned into flying targets. Another part of the drones, after appropriate measures and the removal of secret equipment, were sold to civilians as sports aircraft.
The history of tactical attack drones was forgotten for a while - before the advent of digital electronics and modern communication systems.
Delmar Fairnley, a leading expert on the creation of American strike UAVs during the Second World War, wrote in his memoirs: "The end of the war swept all super-projects into a basket of forgotten ideas."
X-47B, today
