The Boeing Bird of Prey was a black project aircraft, intended to demonstrate stealth technology. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in the 1990s. The company provided $67 million of funding for the project; it was a low-cost program compared to many other programs of similar scale. It developed technology and materials which would later be used on Boeing's X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle. As an internal project, this aircraft was not given an X-plane designation. There are no public plans to make this a production aircraft. It is characterized as a technology demonstrator.
The AQM-37 Jayhawk is an air-launched supersonic target drone manufactured by Beechcraft capable of simulating inbound ICBM warhead packages for fleet shoot-down exercises.
The Lockheed DC-130 is a variant of the C-130 Hercules designed for drone control. It can carry four Ryan Firebee drones underneath its wings.
The AQM-38 was an American target drone, developed during the 1950s by the Radioplane Division of the Northrop Corporation, Newbury Park, California, and manufactured by its Ventura Division at Van Nuys, California. Extensively used for surface-to-air missile training, over two thousand were built during its production run and it saw continued use within the United States Army and United States Navy for nearly twenty years.
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.
The Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug is a jet-powered drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle, produced and developed by Ryan Aeronautical from the earlier Ryan Firebee target drone series.
The Ryan Firebee is a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and remains one of the most widely used target drones ever built.
The Boeing YQM-94 B-Gull was a developmental aerial reconnaissance drone developed by Boeing. It could take off and land from a runway like a manned aircraft, and operate at high altitudes for up to 24 hours to perform aerial surveillance, communications relay, or atmospheric sampling.
The Ryan AQM-91 Firefly was a developmental drone developed during the Vietnam War to perform long-range reconnaissance, especially into China.
The AQM-60 Kingfisher, originally designated XQ-5, was a target drone version of the USAF's X-7 ramjet test aircraft built by the Lockheed Corporation. The aircraft was designed by Kelly Johnson, who later created the Lockheed A-12 and its relatives, such as the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and Lockheed YF-12.
A high-altitude platform station or atmospheric satellite is a long endurance, high altitude aircraft able to offer observation or communication services similarly to artificial satellites. Mostly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), they remain aloft through atmospheric lift, either aerodynamic like airplanes, or aerostatic like airships or balloons. High-altitude long endurance (HALE) military drones can fly above 60,000 ft over 32 hours, while civil HAPS are radio stations at an altitude of 20 to 50 km above waypoints, for weeks.
The Garrett ATF3 is a 3-spool turbofan engine developed at the California division of Garrett AiResearch. Due to mergers it is currently supported by Honeywell Aerospace. The engine is unusual as the core flow path is twice reversed 180 deg. Aft of the fan, the axial compressor has five stages, after which the gas path progresses to the aft end of the engine. There, it is reversed 180 deg and flows through a centrifugal compressor stage, the combustors and then the turbine stages. Beyond this, the flow is then reversed 180 deg again to exit in the fan bypass duct. All engine accessories are mounted on the aft end of the engine under an engine tail-cone.
The Fairchild J44 was a small turbojet developed in the 1940s by the Fairchild Engine Division.
Compass Cope was a program initiated by the United States Air Force to develop an upgraded reconnaissance Unmanned aerial vehicle. The two aircraft that participated in the program were:
The General Electric J97 is a single-shaft turbojet engine designed and built by General Electric as a compact high-performance engine for light attack fighters and eventually a number of drone projects.
Big Safari is a United States Air Force program begun in 1952 which provides management, direction, and control of the acquisition, modification, and logistics support for special purpose weapons systems derived from existing aircraft and systems. To that end, the program operates under procurement procedures which allow it in most cases to designate the contractor. The sole-source arrangement that allows the pairing of contractors to specific requirements is paramount to the program's success.
The Radioplane Q-1 was an American target drone, developed in the early 1950s for the United States Air Force by the Radioplane Company. Originally powered by a pulsejet engine, then later developed as an improved turbojet-powered aircraft, the Q-1 failed to win the favor of the USAF. However, the aircraft provided the basis of the GAM-67 Crossbow anti-radar missile.
Ghatak is an autonomous jet powered stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Air Force. The design work on the UCAV is to be carried out by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft (AURA) was a tentative name for the UCAV. Details of the project are classified.
The MQM-42 was a supersonic target drone developed by North American Aviation. Developed in two subvariants, Redhead and Roadrunner, it was used by the United States Army in the 1960s and 1970s.
