67-529: Robert Bilcliffe Loraine DSO , MC (14 January 1876 – 23 December 1935) was a successful London and Broadway British stage actor, actor-manager, and soldier who later enjoyed a side career as a pioneer aviator. Born in New Brighton , his father was Henry Loraine and mother Edith Kingsley (born Mary Ellen Bayliss). Robert made his first stage appearance in the English provinces in 1889, prior to serving in
134-480: A UAV that could remain in the air for a long time has been around for decades, but only became an operational reality in the 21st century. Endurance UAVs for low-altitude and high-altitude operation, the latter sometimes referred to as "high-altitude long-endurance (HALE)" UAVs, are now in full service. On August 21, 1998, an AAI Aerosonde named Laima becomes the first UAV to cross the Atlantic Ocean, completing
201-704: A West End production together in 1902 in London, they were both veterans of the RFC (and its successor, the Royal Air Force ) and were both flying and making films in Hollywood in the 1930s. Each of them visited their close relatives in the same area of London. At Loraine's wedding in 1921, his best man was an Air-Commodore who had been in charge of the RFC radio control weapons and developed the first powered drone aircraft . Denny became interested in radio controlled aircraft and started
268-598: A case of 'a high degree of gallantry just short of deserving the Victoria Cross '. In either case, being ' Mentioned in Dispatches ' was a pre-condition for the award of a DSO. A requirement that the order could be given only to someone mentioned in despatches was removed in 1943. Since 1993, reflecting the review of the British honours system which recommended removing distinctions of rank in respect of operational awards,
335-466: A class of unmanned aircraft intermediate between them. The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849, serving as a balloon carrier (the precursor to the aircraft carrier ) is the first offensive use of air power in naval aviation . Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 incendiary balloons each carrying a 24- to 30-pound bomb that
402-740: A cost of about 554 UAVs lost to all causes during the war. During the Iran–Iraq War , Iran sought the need for a new recon platform in addition to the RF-4 . In the early 1980s, development of the Qods Mohajer-1 began, and production began in 1985. They were operated by the IRGC's Raad brigade in many key battles of the war, including Operation Karbala 5 and Operation Valfajr 8 . They participated in 619 various missions, taking nearly 54,000 photographs. Iran also armed them with RPGs, as some images show, however it
469-458: A drama society in his squadron, which performed the premiere performance of Shaw's play O'Flaherty V.C. at Treizeenes in Belgium. On 11 December 1918, he relinquished his commission in the Royal Air Force due to ill-health brought on by his wounds, and was granted the honorary rank of major. Loraine had a great deal in common with Reginald Denny , a younger British actor/airman. They had been in
536-550: A high degree of gallantry, just short of deserving the Victoria Cross . Whilst normally given for service under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy, a number of awards made between 1914 and 1916 were under circumstances not under fire, often to staff officers , causing resentment among front-line officers. After 1 January 1917, commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire. From 1916, ribbon bars could be authorised for subsequent awards of
603-732: A prototype target drone, the RP-1, to the US Army . Denny then bought a design from Walter Righter in 1938 and began marketing it to hobbyists as the "Dennymite", and demonstrated it to the Army as the RP-2, and after modifications as the RP-3 and RP-4 in 1939. In 1940, Denny and his partners won an Army contract for their radio controlled RP-4, which became the Radioplane OQ-2 . They manufactured nearly fifteen thousand drones for
670-625: A rail using solid-fuel rocket-assisted takeoff ( RATO ) boosters; or hydraulic, electromagnetic , or pneumatic catapult . Very small target drones can be launched by an elastic bungee catapult. Few target drones have landing gear, and so they are generally recovered by parachute or, in some cases, by a skid landing. Beginning in April 1966, and lasting through the end of the war in 1975, the USAF successfully conducted approximately 2,655 Mid-Air Retrieval System (MARS) catches, out of 2,745 attempts, primarily using
737-570: A similar manner in Operation Sandstone in 1947, and in Operation Greenhouse in 1951. In this latter test, also several Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jets were used, modified into drones by Sperry Corporation ; however, the complex system resulted in a very high accident rate. One of the B-17 drones, tail number 44-83525, is currently under restoration at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base . In
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#1732855356287804-423: A small scale during World War II as very large aerial torpedoes, though with no great success and the loss of aircrew including Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. The " TDN-1 " was an unmanned aerial vehicle that was developed for use in 1940. The TDN was capable of delivering a 1,000-pound bomb but never saw operational duty. The Naval Aircraft Factory assault drone "Project Fox" installed an RCA television camera in
871-450: A transmitter on a jeep, and during flight by a transmitter on another B-17. They were used on Bikini Atoll ( Operation Crossroads ) to gather samples from inside the radioactive cloud. During test Baker, two drones were flown directly above the explosion; when the shock wave reached them, both gained height, and the lowest was damaged. The U.S. Navy conducted similar tests with Grumman F6F Hellcat drones. The B-17 drones were employed in
938-599: A turbojet-powered Mach 2 target in the late 1950s, originally designated the Q-4 but later given the designation of AQM-35 . In production form, it was a slender dart with wedge-shaped stubby wings, swept conventional tail assembly, and a General Electric J85 turbojet engine, like that used on the Northrop F-5 fighter. In 1946, eight B-17 Flying Fortresses were transformed by American airmen into drones for collecting radioactive data. They were controlled at takeoff and landing from
1005-756: A volunteer in the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1901. During the First World War , he flew with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). Formerly a lieutenant in the Special Reserve serving as a flying officer RFC, he was appointed to be a flight commander with the rank of captain on 15 September 1915. He was awarded the Military Cross for his "conspicuous gallantry and skill" in shooting down an Albatross biplane on 26 October 1915. On 24 April 1916 he
1072-540: Is a military decoration of the United Kingdom , as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth , awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful command and leadership during active operations, typically in actual combat. Since 1993 it has been awarded specifically for "highly successful command and leadership during active operations", with all ranks being eligible. It is a level 2A decoration (order) in
1139-479: Is unknown if they were used in combat with that configuration. The usefulness of robot aircraft for reconnaissance had been demonstrated in Vietnam. At the same time, early steps were being taken to use them in active combat at sea and on land , but battlefield Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) would not come into their own until the 1980s. During the early years, target drones were often launched from aircraft; or off
1206-619: The British system of military decorations . Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria in a royal warrant published in The London Gazette on 9 November, the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886. The order was established to reward individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. It was a military order, until recently for officers only and typically awarded to officers ranked major (or equivalent) or higher, with awards to ranks below this usually for
1273-477: The Commonwealth . The following received the DSO and three bars ( i.e., were awarded the DSO four times): History of unmanned aerial vehicles Unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) include both autonomous (capable of operating without human input) drones and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs). A UAV is capable of controlled, sustained level flight and is powered by a jet, reciprocating, or electric engine. In
1340-566: The Fairey III F floatplane, building a small batch of three, and in 1935 followed up this experiment by producing larger numbers of another RC target, the "DH.82B Queen Bee", derived from the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainer. The name of "Queen Bee" allegedly led to the use of the term "drone" for pilotless aircraft, particularly when they are radio-controlled. During this period, the U.S. Navy , continuing work that reached back to 1917, also experimented with radio-controlled aircraft. In 1936
1407-625: The Israeli Air Force ’s victory over the Syrian Air Force in 1982. Israel’s coordinated use of UAVs alongside manned aircraft allowed the state to quickly destroy dozens of Syrian aircraft with minimal losses. Israeli drones were used as electronic decoys, electronic jammers as well as for real time video reconnaissance. The US military is entering a new era in which UAVs will be critical to SIGINT payloads, or Electronic countermeasures systems should be in widespread use following 2010, with
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#17328553562871474-600: The Royal Aircraft Factory all became involved. They were all designed to use Low's radio control system developed at the Royal Flying Corps secret Experimental Works at Feltham. Of these Low confirmed that Geoffrey de Havilland ’s monoplane was the one that flew under control on 21 March 1917. Low is known as '"father of radio guidance systems" and in 1976 Low was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame . Alternatively, John Taylor suggested Low
1541-592: The Royal Court Theatre . He also won critical acclaim for performances in plays by William Shakespeare and August Strindberg . In 1909 Loraine took up the new technology of aviation, learning first to fly at the Bleriot school at Pau , France. He then switched to the easier to fly Farman biplane , on which he achieved great fame. In September 1910 he made what is credited as being the first aeroplane flight from England to Ireland, although he actually came down in
1608-472: The Second Boer War . He introduced the George Bernard Shaw play Man and Superman to Broadway in 1905. Loraine was a versatile actor and was successful both in serious plays and in popular works of light entertainment. He was particularly associated with the works of George Bernard Shaw , taking over the role of John Tanner from Harley Granville Barker in the fourth run of Man and Superman at
1675-830: The Sperry Gyroscope Company . Later, in November 1917, the Automatic Airplane was flown for representatives of the US Army. This led the army to commission a project to build an "aerial torpedo", resulting in the Kettering Bug which first flew in 1918. While the Bug's revolutionary technology was successful, it was not in time to fight in the war, which ended before it could be fully developed and deployed. After World War I, three Standard E-1s were converted to drones. The Larynx
1742-696: The TD2D-1 Katydid , later the KDD-1 and then KDH-1. It was an air-launched cigar-shaped machine with a straight mid-mounted wing, and a vee tail straddling the pulsejet engine. The Katydid was developed in mid-war and a small number were put into service with the US Navy. After the war, the Navy obtained small numbers of another pulsejet-powered target, the Curtiss KD2C Skeet series. It was another cigar-shaped machine, with
1809-579: The reconnaissance mission proved highly successful. A series of reconnaissance drones derived from the Firebee, the Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug series, were used by the US to spy on North Vietnam , Communist China, and North Korea in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Lightning Bugs were not the only long-range reconnaissance drones developed in the 1960s. The US developed other, more specialized reconnaissance drones:
1876-606: The "A" code would be also used for "Attack" aircraft, later "full-sized" targets would be given the "PQ" designation. USAAF acquired hundreds of Culver "PQ-8" target drones, which were radio-controlled versions of the tidy little Culver Cadet two-seat light civil aircraft, and thousands of the improved Culver PQ-14 Cadet derivative of the PQ-8. The US also used RC aircraft, including modified B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in Aphrodite and Anvil operations in combat on
1943-474: The 147T, TE, and TF ( Military model AQM-34P, 34Q, and 34R). These machines were 30' long, and had 32' wing spans, with 2,800 lb thrust engines. These flew 28, 268, and 216 combat sorties respectively; of which 23 AQM-34Q drones were lost, AQM-34R machines were destroyed, and 6 AQM-34P models never made it home. The use of armed drones came into its own with the start of the War on Terror . The global audience
2010-543: The 1990s most, including Canada , Australia and New Zealand , were establishing their own honours systems and no longer recommended British honours. Recipients of the order are officially known as Companions of the Distinguished Service Order, and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DSO". All awards are announced in The London Gazette . From 1918 to 2017, the Distinguished Service Order
2077-442: The Army during World War II. The true inventor of a radio-controlled aircraft that could fly out of sight was Edward M. Sorensen as evidenced by his US patents. His invention was the first to be able to know from a ground terminal what the airplane was doing, such as climbing, altitude, banking, direction, rpm and other instrumentation. Without these patents the early radio-controlled aircraft could only operate within visual sight of
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2144-553: The DSO has been open to all ranks, with the award criteria redefined as "highly successful command and leadership during active operations". At the same time, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was introduced as the second-highest award for gallantry. Despite some very fierce campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the DSO has yet to be awarded to a non-commissioned rank. The DSO had also been awarded by Commonwealth countries but by
2211-577: The DSO, worn on the ribbon of the original award. In 1942, the award was extended to officers of the Merchant Navy who had performed acts of gallantry whilst under enemy attack. Prior to 1943, the DSO could be awarded to only commissioned officers of the Lieutenant-Colonel rank and above, for 'meritorious or distinguished service in wartime' under conditions of actual combat. If awarded to an officer ranking below Lieutenant-Colonel, it had to be
2278-424: The Navy concerning the relative advantages of the proposed program for full-scale combat implementation versus a small-scale combat test with minimum aircraft resource expenditure which might reveal the concept to the enemy and allow development of countermeasures prior to full production. Assault drones remained an unproven concept in the minds of military planners through major allied advances of 1944. Utilization
2345-649: The Ryan "Model 154", the Ryan and Boeing "Compass Copes", and the Lockheed D-21 , all of which were more or less cloaked in secrecy. The USSR also developed a number of reconnaissance drones, though since many programs the Soviets pursued were cloaked in secrecy, details of these aircraft are unclear and contradictory. Known drone systems planned or developed by the former Soviet Union include (in alphabetical order): By late 1959,
2412-511: The Ryan 147J model drone. The most combat sorties flown during the war were made by the Ryan 147SC (military designation AQM-34L) with 1,651 missions. About 211 AQM-34Ls were lost during the war. The highest mission bird was a 147SC, named "Tom Cat", it accomplished 68 combat missions in Vietnam, before failing to return on 25 September 1974. Tom Cat was followed by Budweiser (with 63 missions), Ryan's Daughter (52 missions), and Baby Duck (46 missions). The largest UAVs in Vietnam were
2479-633: The UAV units to deploy immediately for Southeast Asia on any available C-130s or C-133s . The first birds (drones) would be Ryan 147Bs (AQM-34s) piggy-backed on C-130s, after completing their missions they would be parachuted for recovery near Taiwan . USAF drones (UAVs) of the Strategic Air Command deployed to the Republic of South Vietnam (RVN) as the 4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing in 1964. In 1966
2546-1016: The UAVs controlled and relaying data back over high-bandwidth data links in real time, linked to ground, air, sea, and space platforms. The trend had been emerging before the American war in Afghanistan began in 2001, but was greatly accelerated by the use of UAVs in that conflict. The Predator RQ-1L UAV (General Atomics) was the first deployed UAV to the Balkans in 1995 Iraq in 1996 and was proved very effective in Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as Afghanistan. Another growth field in UAVs are miniature UAVs, ranging from " micro aerial vehicles (MAVs)" and miniature UAVs that can be carried by an infantryman to UAVs that can be carried and launched like an infantry man-portable air-defense system . The idea of designing
2613-518: The downing of the U-2, the highly classified UAV (called RPV back then) program was born, under the code name of Red Wagon. Just after the incident involving the US Navy destroyers USS Maddox (DD-731) and USS Turner Joy (DD-951) , and even before it escalated into the presidential " Tonkin Gulf Resolution " and war with North Vietnam , the USAF had issued an immediate order for
2680-563: The drone and a six-inch television screen in the TG-2 control aircraft in 1941. In April 1942 the assault drone successfully delivered a demonstration torpedo attack on a US destroyer at a range of 20 miles from the TG-2 control aircraft. Another assault drone was successfully crashed into a target moving at eight knots. The Navy Bureau of Aeronautics then proposed a television-assisted remote control assault drone program of 162 control planes and 1,000 assault drones. Disagreements arose within
2747-453: The first US military drone work at the start of WWII. On 7 November 1897 Loraine married Julie Opp . After their divorce he married Winifred Lydia, daughter of Sir Thomas Strangman in 1921. Loraine's best man was an old RFC colleague Duncan Pitcher They had three daughters. Robert returned from New York on the new luxury liner SS Normandie and arrived in Plymouth on the 14 October 1935. He
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2814-556: The ground pilot. The US Navy began experimenting with radio-controlled aircraft during the 1930s as well, resulting in the Curtiss N2C-2 drone in 1937. The N2C-2 was remotely controlled from another aircraft, called a TG-2. N2C-2 anti-aircraft target drones were in service by 1938. The US Army Air Forces (USAAF) adopted the N2C-2 concept in 1939. Obsolescent aircraft were put into service as "A-series" anti-aircraft target drones. Since
2881-680: The head of US Navy research group used the term "DRONE" to designate radio-controlled aerial targets. From 1929 Hungarian scientist Kálmán Tihanyi worked on television guidance for defense applications, building prototypes of a camera for remotely-guided aircraft in London for the British Air Ministry , and later adapting it for the Italian Navy . In 1929, Tihanyi invented the first infrared-sensitive (night-vision) electronic television-camera for anti-aircraft defense in Britain. The solutions of
2948-530: The late 1950s, along with the Falconer, the US Army acquired another reconnaissance drone, the Aerojet-General SD-2 Overseer . It had a similar configuration to the Falconer, but featured a vee tail and was about twice as heavy. The success of drones as targets led to their use for other missions. The well-proven Ryan Firebee was a good platform for such experiments , and tests to evaluate it for
3015-490: The launching ship Vulcano . The first pilotless aircraft were built during World War I. From a suggestion that A. M. Low ’s expertise in early television and radio technology be used to develop a remotely controlled pilotless aircraft to attack the Zeppelins a remarkable succession of British drone weapons in 1917 and 1918 evolved. Designers from Sopwith Aviation and its contractor Rushton Proctor, de Havilland and
3082-529: The missions over enemy territory. The average sortie per drone was three missions, before it was lost. The most famous Lightning Bug was a 147SC drone named "Tom Cat." Tom Cat flew sixty-eight missions before an enemy gunner finally brought him "down over Hanoi on September 25, 1974." From August 1964, until their last combat flight on 30 April 1975 (the fall of Saigon ), the USAF 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing would launch 3,435 Ryan reconnaissance drones over North Vietnam and its surrounding areas, at
3149-790: The only spy plane available to the US was the U-2 . Spy satellites were another year and half away, and the SR-71 Blackbird was still on the drawing board. In such a climate, concerns appeared about the negative publicity from the foreseen capture of US airmen on the communist territory. Pilots' fears were realized in May 1960, when U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the USSR. Not surprisingly, work intensified on an unmanned drone which would be capable of penetrating deep into enemy territory, and return with precise military intelligence. Within three months of
3216-633: The piston-powered KDG Snipe of 1946, which evolved through the KD2G and KD5G pulsejet-powered targets and the KD3G and KD4G piston-powered targets, to the KD6G series of piston-powered targets. The KD6G series appears to have been the only one of the Globe targets to be built in substantial numbers. It was similar in size and configuration to the BTT series, but had a twin-fin tail. It
3283-452: The post-World War II period, Radioplane followed up the success of the OQ-2 target drone with another very successful series of piston-powered target drones, what would become known as the Basic Training Target (BTT) family (the BTT designation wasn't created until the 1980s, but is used here as a convenient way to resolve the tangle of designations), including the OQ-19/KD2R Quail and the MQM-33/MQM-36 Shelduck. The BTTs remained in service for
3350-424: The pulsejet in the fuselage and intake in the nose. It featured straight, low-mounted wings with tip tanks, and a triple-fin tail. Japan launched long distance attacks on the US Mainland using their Fu-Go unmanned balloons. They used the high-altitude jet stream and a novel ballast system to reach the northwestern US. Though intended to cause forest fires and widespread panic, their impact was not significant. In
3417-424: The rest of the 20th century. The first target drone converted to the battlefield unmanned aerial photo reconnaissance mission was a version of the MQM-33 conversion for the US Army in the mid-1950s designated the RP-71, later re-designated the MQM-57 Falconer. The US military acquired a number of other drones similar in many ways to the Radioplane drones. The Globe company built a series of targets, beginning with
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#17328553562873484-445: The sea about 200 feet (60 metres) from the shore. The same month he piloted one of the two Bristol Boxkites which took part in the British Army manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain , during which he transmitted the first radio signals to be sent from an aeroplane in Britain. His diary is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as the first written example of the word joystick to describe aircraft stick controls. Loraine served as
3551-545: The technology that Tihanyi depicted in his 1929 patent became so influential that American UAV-producing companies still used many of its solutions even half a century later, until the mid-1980s. Subsequent British "drones" included the Airspeed Queen Wasp , the Miles Queen Martinet , and the US-supplied Curtiss Queen Seamew . After WW II these would be replaced by the jet-powered Anglo-Australian GAF Jindivik . The Soviets tested pilotless munitions-delivery in 1935-1939. The first large-scale production, purpose-built drone
3618-415: The twenty-first century, technology reached a point of sophistication that the UAV is now being given a greatly expanded role in many areas of aviation. A UAV differs from a cruise missile in that a UAV is intended to be recovered after its mission, while a cruise missile impacts its target. A military UAV may carry and fire munitions on board, while a cruise missile is a munition. Loitering munitions are
3685-666: The unit was redesignated as the 350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing . The Squadron operated Ryan Firebees , launching them from modified D C-130A Hercules transport aircraft, normally two drones under each wing, each Hercules carrying 4 drones total. The UAVs deployed parachutes upon completing their missions and were usually recovered by helicopters which were tasked for those missions. The North Vietnamese Air Force utilized U.S. drone flights to practice their aerial combat skills, and although claiming several successful interceptions, only 6 are known to have been shot down by NVAF MiGs. But there
3752-438: Was a draw back for chasing drones; one North Vietnamese MiG ran out of fuel, causing the pilots to eject, a North Vietnamese SAM shot down a NVAF MiG-17 while in "hot pursuit of a drone." While another NVAF MiG-17 shot down another MiG which got into his line of fire while chasing a drone. Between 1967 and until near the end of the U.S. involvement with the war in 1972, varied models of the 147SC Lightning Bug flew over half
3819-412: Was an early cruise missile in the form of a small monoplane aircraft that could be launched from a warship and flown under autopilot; the Royal Navy tested it between 1927 and 1929. The early successes of pilotless aircraft led to the development of radio controlled pilotless target-aircraft in Britain and the US in the 1930s. In 1931 the British developed the Fairey Queen radio-controlled target from
3886-415: Was awarded approximately 16,935 times, in addition to 1,910 bars. The figures to 1979 are laid out in the table below, the dates reflecting the relevant entries in the London Gazette : In addition, approximately 90 DSOs were awarded between 1980 and 2017, including awards for the Falklands and the wars in the Gulf , Iraq and Afghanistan , in addition to three bars. The above figures include awards to
3953-414: Was built in the Peenemünde Army Research Center and first tested in 1942. The V-1 was intended to target London and was massively fired, achieving more than one hundred launches a day. The V-1 was launched from a rail system to achieve the speed needed to operate its pulsejet engine and would achieve a 250 kilometers radius, at one point flying at 640 km/h. McDonnell built a pulsejet-powered target,
4020-482: Was due to play Ebenezer Scrooge in a broadcast that Christmas but died quite suddenly after being admitted to hospital on 23 December in London. Loraine's life is the subject of Lanayre D. Liggera's biography The Life of Robert Loraine:The Stage, the Sky, and George Bernard Shaw c.2013. and in 'The Dawn of the Drone'. [REDACTED] Media related to Robert Loraine at Wikimedia Commons Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO )
4087-416: Was exposed to armed drones and their lethal uses when after the September 11, 2001 attacks an American UAV killed Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi (aka Abu Ali al-Harithi) in a November 2002 drone strike that killed six people, including Qaed, the alleged mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing . The attitude towards UAVs, which were often seen as unreliable and expensive toys, changed dramatically with
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#17328553562874154-406: Was limited to a 4-drone attack on a beached Japanese merchant ship in the Russell Islands at the end of July followed by expenditure of 46 drones in the northern Solomon Islands . Two hits and two near-misses were scored on the stationary ship. Several of the later drones failed to reach their targets, but most were effective. The V-1 flying bomb was the first cruise missile ever built. It
4221-401: Was promoted to command a squadron , with the rank of major , and on 13 February 1917 he was appointed a wing commander, with the rank of lieutenant colonel ; he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order the same year "for distinguished service in the field". He was twice seriously wounded, and commanded No. 40 Squadron . During his service he did not entirely abandon the theatre, running
4288-521: Was redesignated "MQM-40" in the early 1960s, by which time it was generally out of service. The use of drones as decoys goes back to at least the 1950s, with the Northrop Crossbow tested in such a role. The first operational decoy drone was the McDonnell Douglas " ADM-20 Quail ", which was carried by Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers to help them penetrate defended airspace. By the late 1950s combat aircraft were capable of Mach 2, and so faster targets had to be developed to keep pace. Northrop designed
4355-526: Was the product of Reginald Denny . He served with the British Royal Flying Corps during World War I, and after the war, in 1919, he returned to the United States to resume his career in Hollywood. Denny was a successful leading man and between acting jobs, he pursued his interest in radio control model aircraft in the 1930s opening a shop. The shop evolved into the " Radioplane Company ". Denny believed that low-cost RC aircraft would be very useful for training anti-aircraft gunners, and in 1935 he demonstrated
4422-399: Was the ‘Father of the Remotely Piloted Vehicle’. Soon after, on September 12, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane , otherwise known as the "flying bomb" made its first flight, demonstrating the concept of an unmanned aircraft. They were intended for use as "aerial torpedoes" an early version of today's cruise missiles . Control was achieved using gyroscopes developed by Elmer Sperry of
4489-447: Was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the Austrian ship SMS Vulcano . The Austrians used smaller pilot balloons to determine the correct fuse settings. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and
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