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An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.
HMS Invincible was the Royal Navy's lead ship of her class of three light aircraft carriers. She was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She was originally designated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, but was used as an aircraft carrier during the Falklands War, when she was deployed with HMS Hermes. She took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Iraq War. In 2005, she was decommissioned, and was eventually sold for scrap in February 2011.
HMS Bristol (D23) was a Type 82 destroyer, the only vessel of her class to be built for the Royal Navy. Bristol was intended to be the first of a class of large destroyers to escort the CVA-01 aircraft carriers projected to come into service in the early 1970s but the rest of the class and the CVA-01 carriers were cancelled as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper which cut defence spending.
Number 216 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2020 and is tasked with testing future drone swarm technology. It had previously operated Lockheed TriStar K1, KC1 and C2s from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, between November 1984 and March 2014.
The Type 82 or Bristol-class destroyer was a 1960s guided missile destroyer design intended to replace County-class destroyers in the Royal Navy. Originally eight warships were planned to provide area air-defence for the four planned CVA-01 aircraft carriers. They would also have been able to operate independently as modern cruisers "East of Suez".
The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of Mach 3.3 at an operational altitude of 90,000 feet. Development began in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, the drone was intended for reconnaissance deep into enemy airspace.
The Ikara missile was an Australian ship-launched anti-submarine missile, named after an Australian Aboriginal word for "throwing stick". It launched an acoustic torpedo to a range of 10 nautical miles (19 km), allowing fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship to close for attack, placing itself at risk. By flying to a distant target, the engagement time was dramatically shorter than provided by short-range weapons, giving the target less time to respond.
The 2K11 Krug is a Soviet and now Russian medium-range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The system was designed by NPO Novator and produced by Kalinin Machine Building Plant. Its GRAU designation is "2K11." Its NATO reporting name is SA-4 Ganef, after the Yiddish word גנבֿ meaning 'thief'; the name was used because the system resembled the Bristol Bloodhound.
The Perth-class destroyers were three modified Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Ordered from Defoe Shipbuilding Company during 1962 and 1963, HMA Ships Perth, Hobart, and Brisbane were the first guided missiled-armed warships, and the first naval ships of United States design, to enter service with the RAN. All three ships operated during the Vietnam War, while Brisbane also participated in the Gulf War. The class was decommissioned between 1999 and 2001, with all three vessels later sunk as dive wrecks.
UAVs include both autonomous 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 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 target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews.
The GAF Nomad is a utility aircraft produced by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia in Melbourne. The twin-turboprop, high-wing aircraft has a retractable gear and came in two variants: the initial N22, followed by the stretched N24. Supported by the Australian Government, design work began in the mid-1960s, and it made its maiden flight on 23 July 1971. Despite some export sales and commercial operations, sales were not sufficient and production stopped in 1985.
The GAF Jindivik is a radio-controlled target drone produced by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories (GAF). The name is from an Aboriginal Australian word meaning "the hunted one". Two manually-controlled prototypes, were built as the GAF Pika as a proof of concept to test the aerodynamics, engine and radio control systems, serialled A92-1/2, 'B-1/2'. The radio-controlled Jindivik was initially designated the Project B and received serials in the A93 series. Pika is an Aboriginal Australian word meaning flier.
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World War II, during which it was known as the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP). In 1987, GAF was reorganized and renamed as Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) then privatised. ASTA was purchased by Rockwell International, that was in turn purchased by Boeing a few years later. ASTA subsequently formed the nucleus of Boeing Australia.
Project Kingfisher was a weapons-development program initiated by the United States Navy during the latter part of World War II. Intended to provide aircraft and surface ships with the ability to deliver torpedoes to targets from outside the range of defensive armament, six different missile concepts were developed; four were selected for full development programs, but only one reached operational service.
The Nord Aviation CT20 was a French turbojet-powered radio-controlled target drone introduced in 1957. Developed from the Arsenal / S.F.E.C.M.A.S. T.5.510, the CT.20 was built by Nord Aviation and powered by a Turbomeca Marboré II engine, providing a top speed of 900 km/h and a flying time of 55 to 60 minutes. It has been noted for its similarity to the Ryan Firebee. The unmanned drone was used in the development of air-to-air missiles following the Second World War.
The HESA Karrar is an Iranian jet-powered target drone manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) since 2010. The Karrar is a derivative of the American 1970s-era Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker target drone, probably incorporating elements from the South African Skua, with hardpoints added for munitions. The Karrar was developed during the Ahmadinejad presidency.
The Radioplane RP-77 was a small target drone missile, constructed largely of plastic materials, produced by the Radioplane division of the Northrop Corporation. Although the RP-77D was successfully tested by the United States Army, the decision was made not to procure the aircraft.
A loitering munition is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in munition (warhead), which can loiter around the target area until a target is located; it then attacks the target by crashing into it. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area, and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed midflight or aborted.
The Aviolanda AT-21 was a target drone developed in the Netherlands by Aviolanda. Powered by a pulsejet engine, it was the Netherlands' first drone to be successfully developed, and saw limited use in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
References
- ↑ "GAF Turana Guided Missile". Museum Victoria. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ↑ "RAN GAF Turana". ADF-SERIALS.
- 1 2 "Successful Turana First Flight". Flight International . 19 August 1971. p. 305.
- ↑ "Tracer". Flight International . 20 October 1979. p. 1267.
