Development of UAS

Unmanned vehicles are actively being applied to many jobs around the world in order to solve problems with the way these jobs have completed in the past. To understand how UAS has become such a widely used tool, it is important to look at the development of this technology and the circumstances that led to it. This information could also be useful in determining the future of UAS development.

Although UAS use today is typically centered around data collection, this was not possible when the first unmanned vehicles were being developed. The first unmanned aircraft were used as weapons. This was first demonstrated in 1839 when Austrian soldiers filled unmanned balloons with explosives and attacked Venice. UAS development continued down this direction as technology advanced.

This is a Kettering Bug. The fuselage is the missile.

The Kettering Bug was created towards the end of World War 1 as a way to strike ground targets at long distances. This UAS was essentially a guided missile. It used an inertial navigation system based on engine rotations that would tell it when to make maneuvers and even detach the wings to deliver the payload. While it was created for use in WW1, the war ended before it could actually see battle. The creation of the Kettering Bug is important because it shows how are developed to solve problems. In between WW1 and WW2, UAS had also been used for anti-aircraft practice. This was very useful as aircraft were becoming a big factor in wars.

Kodak Anastigmatic 152mm F/6.3 Camera from the 1920s

Unmanned vehicles were not used for data collection early on because technology had not caught up yet. UAS were too costly and they did not have enough range to be used for data collection. An even bigger problem was that cameras were also still being improved. When the Kettering Bug was created, cameras were too big and complicated to be used on UAS. The Cold War helped with the development of UAS for data collection. This is because data collection was very important during this time when any incident could result in nuclear annihilation. Spy planes, like Lockheed's U2, were originally how information was being gathered during the Cold War. UAS were not seen as the best option until a U2 pilot had been shot down and captured. This increased tensions which led to the United States looking for other options for data collection. In terms of unmanned data collection, UAS and satellites are the only options. Project corona was the first satellite reconnaissance program. This program was used to gather data on the USSR during the Cold War. Unmanned vehicles were also being used during this time by the United States to find out more about how enemy anti-aircraft missiles worked. 

KH-4B: The last type of satellite used in project corona.

Looking at the circumstances surrounding the major developments in the history of UAS makes it easier to understand why these developments happened in the first place. The most interesting way that UAS can solve problems is when they are used to make other technologies better. In the past, they helped in this way by serving as target practice, but it will be interesting to see what other things can be improved with the help of UAS. As technology improves, unmanned vehicles become cheaper, safer, and more efficient than the technologies they are replacing. This is why UAS was developed in the past and why it will continue to be developed for more uses in the future.