Author: [email protected] (Jonathan H. Kantor)

Drones have been around for a long time, but they’ve only become major players in global military operations in the late 20th century. That’s when aircraft like the RQ-1 (later MQ-1) Predator first flew the unfriendly skies. Initially, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) were primarily used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), but after the U.S. Air Force strapped some AGM-114 Hellfire missiles onto the Predator, things changed. These days, some of the best military drones are uncrewed combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). Advertisement Still, while some drones are incredibly fast and capable of reaching great…