Call them Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV), Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV), Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), call them military drones, call them whatever good or bad name you wish, these aircraft — love them or hate them — exist and are flown, operated and maintained by skilled, dedicated military personnel and there is a history behind them.
They are not only used in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, interdiction and combat support roles but also in search and rescue and humanitarian aid missions.
Why not get to know them better, their history and the men and women whose job and mission is to operate and maintain them.
On the occasion of the U.S. Air Force’s MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft accumulating 2 million flight hours, Senior Airman A.K. of the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs has written three articles of what will be a four-part series on just those subjects.
The first one describes the two million hour milestone.
The second one highlights the importance of maintenance.
The third and most recent one — and the most interesting and extensive one — provides an excellent insight into the history of these vehicles, aircraft, “drones.”
Whether one reads the articles or not, I think the reader will find the following set of photographs interesting.
Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley’s Aerodrome No. 5 unpiloted aircraft is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The aircraft made the world’s first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size on May 6, 1896. (Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)
A crew chief from the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron inspects the engine of an MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft during a post-flight inspection Nov. 1, 2013. The MQ-1 Predator is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance RPA that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. N.B.)
Airmen attached to the 324th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, based out of 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., perform a preflight inspection on an MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft as the wing passed the 2 million flying hour milestone Oct. 22, 2013. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian T. Glunt)
An MQ-1 Predator takes off from an undisclosed location. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian T. Glunt)
Capt. Ben, (right) 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Remotely Piloted Aircraft pilot, and Senior Airman Travis, 432nd Wing/432nd AEW RPA sensor operator, fly an MQ-1 Predator during the wing’s 2 million flying hour milestone Oct. 22, 2013. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. N.B.)
Staff Sgt. Tabitha, 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing mission intelligence coordinator, views a video feed from an MQ-1 Predator. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. N.B.)
Lead image: An MQ-1 Predator armed with an AGM-114 Hellfire missile flies a training mission. The MQ-1’s primary mission is interdiction and conducting reconnaissance against critical, time-sensitive targets. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.