The RQ-3 DarkStar is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Its first flight was on March 29, 1996. The Department of Defense terminated DarkStar in January 1999, after determining the UAV was not aerodynamically stable and was not meeting cost and performance objectives.
The IAI RQ-5 Hunter is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) originally intended to serve as the United States Army's Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways. It used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a C-band line-of-sight data link. The RQ-5 is based on the Hunter UAV that was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
The AAI RQ-7 Shadow is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the United States Army, Australian Army, Swedish Army, Turkish Air Force and Italian Army for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition and battle damage assessment. Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier. Its gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the ground control station (GCS).
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard. 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, area coverage, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, weather observation, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.
A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a class of man-portable miniature UAVs whose size enables them to be used in low-altitude, close-in support operations. Modern MAVs can be as small as 5 centimeters - compare Nano Air Vehicle. Development is driven by commercial, research, government, and military organizations; with insect-sized aircraft reportedly expected in the future. The small craft allow remote observation of hazardous environments or of areas inaccessible to ground vehicles. Hobbyists have designed MAVs for applications such as aerial robotics contests and aerial photography. MAVs can offer autonomous modes of flight.
Robert C. Michelson is an American engineer and academic who invented the entomopter, a biologically inspired flapping-winged aerial robot, and who established the International Aerial Robotics Competition. Michelson's career began at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He later became a member of the research faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of three U.S. patents and over 100 journal papers, book chapters and reports. Michelson is the recipient of the 1998 AUVSI Pioneer Award and the 2001 Pirelli Award for the diffusion of scientific culture as well as the first Top Pirelli Prize.
Integrated Dynamics is a private company in Pakistan that designs, manufactures and exports various types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). ID also provides consultancy and turn-key project commissioning for UAV systems.
GFS Projects Limited is a British company developing a vertical take-off and landing aircraft shaped like a flying saucer. The company was established in 2002 by Geoff Hatton, and won a contract with the US government in 2007 to design an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Dr. Imraan Faruque is an American who is most known as a designer and author in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) field. He is the designer responsible for a variety of UAVs, including several currently operational in Iraq, the most well-known being the R-series UAVs which are based on commercial airframes, along with work on Insitu's ScanEagle. These vehicles are normally deployed as a part of reconnaissance missions as they are unarmed but carry either a significant camera or FLIR unit.
Shahbal is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed by a group of aerospace engineers at Sharif University of Technology.
The S4 Ehécatl is an unmanned aerial vehicle developed and manufactured by Hydra Technologies of Mexico which, except for its infrared thermal sensor system, is the first of its type to be completely designed and manufactured in Mexico. It is named after Ehecatl, the Aztec god of the wind.
The Prioria Robotics Maveric is a discontinued unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) marketed as a high-performance, next-generation platform for small and miniature UAV operations. Maveric's bendable wings allow for the ability to store a fully assembled airframe in a 6-inch (150 mm) tube.
The IAI I-View is a small reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle developed in Israel in the early 21st century. Like other UAVs produced by IAI, it has fixed landing gear and an 18.6 kW (25 hp) piston engine. The Eye-View is also being promoted in civilian markets for forest fire warning, and in this form is appropriately known as the FireBird.
Swiss UAV AG was a privately owned company based in Switzerland that designed and manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). The firm developed, produced & sold vertical take-off & landing vehicles from 2006 to 2014. It entered a partnership with Saab in May 2009. In 2013 the firm was acquired by Unmanned Systems AG and the following year merged into UMS Aero Group alongside Swedish company Unmanned Systems AB. At the end of 2015 UMS Aero Group became the majority partner in UMS Skeldar, a joint venture with Saab, manufacturers of the Skeldar unmanned vehicle.
Ghatak (pronounced: gʰɑːt̪ək; lit. 'Deadly' in Sanskrit), initially designated as Indian Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle (IUSAV), is an autonomous jet powered stealthy unmanned combat aerial 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.
ANTEX-M is a family of small- and medium-sized experimental unmanned aerial vehicles developed by the Portuguese Air Force in partnership with several universities and institutes. The development program is part of the PITVANT program and is funded by the Portuguese National Defense Ministry until 2015.
Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence.
The Wing Loong-10 is a series of unmanned aerial vehicles of the High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) type, featuring some stealth characteristics. As of 2017, it is being developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for reconnaissance and precision strike missions.
The Shahed 171 Simorgh is an Iranian jet-powered flying wing unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) produced by Shahed Aviation Industries.
