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 combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and/or bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. UCAVs are used for reconnaissance, attacking targets and returning to base; unlike kamikaze drones which are only made to explode on impact, or surveillance drones which are only for gathering intelligence.
The usefulness of UAVs for aerial reconnaissance was demonstrated to the United States in the Vietnam War. At the same time, early steps were being taken to use them in active combat at sea and on land, but unmanned combat aerial vehicles would not come into their own until the 1980s.
A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. Smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle.
The Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Armed Forces. The Fire Scout is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces. The initial RQ-8A version was based on the Schweizer 330, while the enhanced MQ-8B was derived from the Schweizer 333. The larger MQ-8C Fire Scout variant is based on the Bell 407.
The Bayraktar Mini UAV is a miniature UAV produced by the Turkish company Baykar.
The BAI Aerosystems (BAIA) BQM-147 Dragon unmanned aerial vehicle is a tactical battlefield UAV operated by the United States Marine Corps. Originally designed as an expendable communication jammers, they were converted into a reconnaissance role with the addition of a camera.
The Skyblade is a man-portable mini-UAV developed by ST Aerospace, designed to be used by two operators for short-range battlefield or tactical reconnaissance and artillery spotting.
The Vestel Karayel is a surveillance, reconnaissance and later combat unmanned aerial vehicle system developed by Vestel Savunma later the company renamed as Lentatek. The drone is currently operated by Turkish Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia.
TAI Gözcü is a radio-controlled short-range tactical drone. Designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is in use by the Turkish Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance purposes. Gözcü is the Turkish word for observer.
IAI-HAL NRUAV is a unmanned rotorcraft project being co-developed by Malat Solutions, a unit of IAI of Israel, and HAL of India for the Indian Navy.
ASN-205 UAV and its follow-ons are Chinese UAVs developed by Xi'an Aisheng Technology Group Co., Ltd (西安爱生技术集团公司)ASN Technology Group Co., Ltd (西安爱生技术集团公司), also known as Northwestern Polytechnical University UAV Research Institute or 365th Institute, established in 1984.
The Bayraktar UAV or Bayraktar UCAV is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles designed and manufactured by Turkish company Baykar. The UAVs were developed for the Turkish Armed Forces from 2004 until the present. Some models are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance only, others are capable of tactical ground-strike missions. Baykar is also developing drones to counter other aerial systems. The word bayraktar means flag-bearer in Turkish.
CASIC WJ is a series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) developed by the 3rd Academy Hiwing of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), and the academy is also more commonly known as HiWING Mechanical and Electrical Technology Corp., or HiWING for short.
Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence.
Bayraktar Akıncı is a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being manufactured by the Turkish defence company Baykar. The first three units entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces on 29 August 2021.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment. The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.
The Bayraktar Kızılelma is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), currently in development by Turkish defense company Baykar. The aircraft is being developed as part of Project MIUS. The initial Bayraktar Kızılelma (Kızılelma-A) is subsonic. Planned variants are intended to be supersonic, the latter having a twin-engined configuration. It is one of the two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAV along with TAI Anka-3.
The Baykar Bayraktar TB3 is a Turkish medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of short-range landing and take-off, produced by Baykar. According to the initial plans, the ship TCG Anadolu was expected to be equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jets but the vessel entered a modification process to allow it to be able to accommodate UAVs such as Bayraktar TB3 following the removal of Turkey from the F-35 procurement program.
