Unmanned
aerial vehicles are filling the skies of Iraq and wreaking havoc on Al
Qaeda. The first UAVs were intended for
surveillance: simple flying machines
that carried cameras. But soon, the UAVs
were being fitted with weaponry as well, and the Predator drone, armed with the
Hellfire air-to-ground missile, has now been used extensively in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
However,
that’s just the beginning of the story of unmanned aerial vehicles. Advances in such areas as lightweight
materials, super-efficient engines, microelectronics, signal-processing
equipment, and GPS navigation all contributed to rapid advances of UAV
technology.
As a
result, according to The Wall Street Journal,1 the market
for these robotic flying vehicles is booming. Last summer, a big industry trade show in Washington featured numerous
new designs, as manufacturers such as Raytheon raced to make them more reliable
and more capable.
That
company’s newest UAV, called the Cobra, flew for the
first time at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland during that trade
show. And the Cobra is one of the first
UAVs to receive FAA permission to conduct commercial flights, as well as
military missions.
Northrop
Grumman, meanwhile, displayed its Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, which it is
building for the Navy. And L-3
Communications showed off its Viking 100 model.
These and
a host of other UAVs designed primarily for military and police will help satisfy the explosive demand for such technology. Specifically, the Department of Homeland
Security is adding a fleet of UAVs; one of the largest applications will be to
create a virtual border fence along
the entire southern border of the United States, monitored 24/7 by sensors,
cameras, and UAVs.
At the
same time, various police departments are getting into the act; UAVs are
naturals for stake-outs and overseeing disasters. And, the military still has many niches not
filled by today’s UAVs. This has
motivated the traditional airframe and armament manufacturers to devote vast
resources to meeting this explosion in demand,...
