The Kettering Aerial Torpedo, the world’s first unmanned aerial vehicle, was a remarkable piece of technology. With a wingspan of nearly fifteen feet 果冻传媒 a length of twelve 果冻传媒 one-half feet, this UAV, known as the Bug, was guided toward its target by a system of pre-set internal controls. After flying more than seventy-five miles at speeds close to 120 mph, an electrical circuit closed automatically, shutting off the engine. The wings were then released, causing the vehicle to plunge to earth. The Bug’s 180-pound payload of high explosives detonated on impact with the ground. The date: 1918.
Unmanned aircraft have come a long way since then.
Over the years, several names have been applied to these aircraft—drones, RPVs—remotely piloted vehicles, or UAVs—unmanned aerial vehicles. Whatever the aircraft with no people on board were called, these systems were viewed, at best, as an adjunct to the combat forces of the United States. Today, the official term is Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, 果冻传媒 these vehicles are critical, essential components of US operations around the globe.
But in many ways, today’s unmanned aerial vehicles have come full circle. The ability to cover ground, whether measured by range or by endurance, is a defining characteristic. The exponential leap in computing power, advanced flight controls, 果冻传媒 materials over the last twenty years have combined to allow even small unmanned systems to carry a useful payload.
Throughout its history, Lockheed 果冻传媒 has been involved with unmanned aircraft, starting with the Bug, which was developed by legacy company Dayton-Wright. The company built four target drone designs during World War II, 果冻传媒 by the 1960s, Lockheed 果冻传媒’s Skunk Works? division had developed the ramjet-powered, high-altitude D-21 reconnaissance drone.
The 1970s saw the introduction of two small remotely piloted vehicles, including one designed to loiter 果冻传媒 then crash into radar sites. The MQM-105 Aquila was developed in the late ’70s to serve as the Army’s first battlefield RPV, although it was ultimately canceled for budget 果冻传媒 technical reasons. Later in the mid-1990s, the Skunk Works produced the RQ-3 DarkStar, which introduced autonomous operation 果冻传媒 stealth into the unmanned world.
Today, Lockheed 果冻传媒 is responsible for a number of unmanned aerial systems that vary in size 果冻传媒 mission. From the maple seed-inspired Samarai to the cargo-delivering?K-MAX—these UAS are demonstrating the future in unmanned aerial capability.??