The recent increase in interest in Unmanned Air Vehicles, both military and
civilian, has not only been brought about by advances in modern technology,
but due to the realisation of what they can achieve.
Wars could be fought with less loss of life, as either side fights with unmanned
vehicles. People in environmental disaster zones too perilous to fly into to
deliver aid can receive supplies from swarms of UAVs, which could also
evacuate injured civilians. Police in cities need not patrol every street, as a UAV
has a birds eye view of large parts of a city, and can send live video of incidents
as they happen, allowing much better police response.
All these possibilities could become reality in the near future, and the UAV has
already had a positive introduction into service with some military forces, and
civilian agencies.
This website aims to show the various UAVs in operation across the world and
their applications in different environments.
Unmanned Air Vehicles have been around since before WW1, when several
countries experimented with balloons carrying explosives sent towards the
enemy. These did not prove very effective, mostly due to changing winds
sending the balloons off target.[1]
During WW2 the V1 and V2 flying bombs were early missiles/UAVs developed
by the Nazis as a terror weapon. Although not controlled once they had taken
off, they inspired design of missiles, which ultimately led to UAVs.
UAV development increased during the 1960s Cold War, due to manned U-2
aircraft being shot down, and the need for sophisticated reconnaissance.
Unmanned drones were used by the United States to spy on Soviet military
installations.
In the Vietnam War, the USA used remotely piloted drones armed with missiles
for various attack missions.
As technology became more advanced, UAVs became more useful for both
military and civil applications, and they are now used for many different
applications.
There are several main benefits of UAVs against manned aircraft.
Without a pilot, UAVs are not restrained by the human physique. This means
they can perform extended missions well over the normal performance of a
human pilot, or loiter for several hours on patrol. Or they can undertake highly
dangerous missions, which will not place the UAV pilot in any danger.
Their size gives them an advantage over much larger, manned aircraft. They can
be made much smaller to suit various mission requirements, and this makes
them more inconspicuous when operating in combat environments. For civil
uses, a small UAV can be used in cities, or even buildings, depending on what is
required.
Industry
Use of UAVs
Military Reconnaissance
UAVs with sensor pods and live video systems are giving a live
view over the battlefield during both night and day.
Combat
UAVs armed with missiles and/or bombs are performing hunterseeker roles, finding and destroying enemy positions and vehicles.
Medevac
UAVs could transport injured soldiers/people to hospitals
automatically.
Agricultural industry
UAVs equipped with fertilizer and pesticide dispersing equipment
can be used to spray over large fields. In addition they can monitor
the crops.
Border Control
UAVs can patrol large areas of border, and direct ground patrols to
intercept illegal immigrants.
Environmental control / weather research
Weather balloons and UAVs are being used to monitor the weather
and relay the live data.
Coast watch
UAVs are being used by the coast guard for monitoring coastlines.
Telecommunications
UAVs are finding use in telecommunications applications as mobile
relay platforms, as well as in disaster zones for emergency
telecommunications.
News broadcasting
UAVs are finding use in providing aerial video feeds for news
events where reporters cannot get to in time.
Ground traffic control
UAVs are beginning to be used to monitor traffic and accidents over
major highways.
These are the largest types of UAV, capable of flying at commercial aircraft
altitudes for extended periods of time. They generally perform reconnaissance
or meteorology missions.
Micro Air Vehicles are very small UAVs which are often man-portable, and
sometimes have VTOL capabilities.
They can be used by soldiers on the battlefield to survey the area around them,
or for general surveillance with civil uses.
These UAVs are generally used for operations where the UAV must spend a
long time in the air, while performing various missions at low altitude.
This means the UAV is larger, and carries a medium sized payload.
A VTOL UAV is very useful in urban environments, where the ability to hover
gives a huge advantage over normal UAVs. VTOL UAVs are usually bulkier
though, and so more difficult to transport.
UAVs originally were designed as military assets, used for surveillance and
combat. However, they were seen to have great potential for many other uses,
some military, and some civilian.
The payloads which the UAV carries can be altered to suit specific needs or
missions, although a sensor package is most widely used. This means that a
single UAV, depending on its size, can perform many different missions, which
makes them extremely versatile.
UAVs have been used in combat for several years, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan by the
USA. There are several highly advanced combat specialized UAVs under development, such
as the EADS Barracuda and the General Atomics Avenger.
Stealth technologies are sometimes incorporated into UCAVs (C for Combat), to minimize
their appearance on radar. This is not normally used in low flying UAVs, which could be seen
with the naked eye anyway.
Most UAVs can perform a reconnaissance role during missions. This gives the
battlefield commander a huge advantage in being able to see real time how the
battlefield is changing, and can call down supporting fire on enemy positions.
Reconnaissance UAVs can range from MAVs launched by soldiers in the field,
giving them an ‘over the hill’ view, to high altitude dedicated UAVs such as
Global Hawk, which would watch a large area for an extended period of time.
UAVs can be used for other missions within the military. Currently there are
UAVs in development for Medical Evacuation of troops from the battlefield, and
Search and Rescue UAVs are starting use with the American Coastguard.
Countries can use UAVs for various missions:
 Border
control and surveillance. UAVs can locate and help capture illegal
immigrants
 Fire
fighting. UAVs with infra red optics can pinpoint the hottest areas of a fire
to help firefighters deal with it.
 Police
can use UAVs to patrol large areas. They could also be used to monitor
large crowds and mobs.
UAVs are becoming increasingly used in commercial applications. These can
include:
 Agriculture
 Pipeline
- Crop Dusting, Monitoring
monitoring
 Aerial
photography - ie Real Estate companies who want their houses
photographed from the air
 Weather
 Disaster
monitoring
assessment
Swarming UAVs are not quite yet developed, but seem to have great
advantages. The swarm is a group of UAVs working together to accomplish a
mission. The number of UAVs can vary, even during the mission itself.
The swarm has a sort of intelligence, which allows it to react to situations. All
UAVs communicate with each other, and share data with their base. This means
they are mostly autonomous, and the operator does not need to control each
one individually. The UAVs would have anti collision systems in place, which
would allow them to stay close together safely, while still performing their
tasks. Being able to carry on with a mission even with a loss of some members
of the swarm makes the swarm an extremely robust technology.
The swarm would be ideally suited for missions involving:
 Area search and attack
 Surveillance, diversion, and suppression of hostile forces
 Psychological warfare, the appearance of a large group of UAVs would be
fairly daunting
Sensors are essential to a UAV. The pilot uses a forward looking optical sensor
to fly the aircraft, and another optical sensor, usually in a turret, observes the
ground below.
For both military and civil uses, the type of sensor used has a big impact on the
mission capabilities of the UAV. For example, a live video feed is useful during
the day, but not at night. Similarly, an infrared sensor is useful for tracking
during the night or as a thermal vision system, but does not work if there are
clouds. Each sensor has its advantages and disadvantages.
 Normal colour video. This is the standard sensor used in UAVs. It is good in
daylight, but not effective at night or with dust or cloud cover.
 Thermal/Infrared Vision. This is extremely useful for UAVs when there is dust
or cloud covering the target, as thermal vision can ‘see through’ such
obstacles. It can be used both night and day.
The above two can be combined to give an intensified image, greatly increasing
the image quality.
 Forward Looking InfraRed. This is used on fixed wing UAVs, and works by
scanning a ‘line’ of the image as the aircraft moves forward, thus creating
a 2D image.
 Synthetic Aperture Radar. This gives a highly detailed image, being able to
resolve details as small as 10cm. [25]