Military Drones
Written By Barton Chen
Military Drones
Presented By, Viking Publishing Press Published in 2013 Milwaukee-New York-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Singapore-London
This book is dedicated to my parents, Mr. Kody, Mrs. Moselle, Ryan Jin and everyone that helped me in this project.
Table of Contents
Introduction--------------Page 4 Purpose-----------------Page 5-6 Pakistan Drone Attack--Page 7-8 IAI Heron----------------Page 9 MQ-8A/B Fire Scout----Page 10 Future---------------Page 11-12 Glossary----------------Page 13 Citation-----------------Page 14 About the Author--------Page 15
Introduction This is the earliest know drone, the V-1. It was used by the Germans to bomb London during World War II.
UAVs, otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones, first appeared during World War II when the German army developed rockets in the 1930s. They devoted a small amount of money and time into the project and became interested in liquid fuel rockets. The modern drones are controlled without a pilot onboard. They are either controlled by computers or controlled by military personnels in terminals. Some drones use launch and recovery methods while others take off and land like normal aircrafts. Some drones are hunter-killers while others are just hunters. Drones get better through time and now let’s see if they are superheroes or super-villains!
Purpose of Drones The DC-130 can carry Ryan Firbee target drones.
Jaw-dropping Fact! The Global Hawk UAV(shown in front) has wings longer than its fuselage(body). Look at the comparison!
UAVs have played an important role since their first appearance. They are used to patrol borders and territories to protect a country’s safety. Drones are most commonly used for reconnaissance missions. They are now having some hard but significant jobs to do too.
MQ-8A/B Fire Scout Fun Fact! The Fire Scout is programmed to control itself! The MQ-8A/B Fire Scouts’ fuselage is filled with radars and other complicated equipments.
The MQ-8 Fire Scout was an unmanned helicopter manufactured by the Northrop Grumman. This drone includes rotor wing design, which is very rare. This amazing UAV made its maiden flight in 2002. The main purpose of the was reconnaissance and support the U.S. Air Force and Navy. They can also be used for precision targeting support. The RQ-8A was derived from the Schweizer 330, while the improved MQ-8B was based on Schweizer 333.
IAI Heron
This is the upgraded IAI Eitan.
The IAI Heron, otherwise known as the Machatz-1 was designed and manufactured by Israel. This drone was best known for it’s Medium Altitude Long Endurance(MALE) operations. This plane can fly 52 hours continuously at the altitude of 35,000 feet. The payload and flight profile of this UAV are not ideal for operational flights. The new version is called the IAI Eitan (below left).
The IAI Heron is so popular that even the police department in some countries uses the Heron.
Drone Attacks In Pakistan
Predator drones (shown above) are used the most often in the attacks.
Drones are responsible for the event of Drone Attacks in Pakistan that started in 2004. The main targets of the drone attacks are insurgents on the Afghan-Pakistan Border. More than one hundred attacks on the had been held by the drones of the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S.
The deadly attacks made by drones have shocked many people in the world, as well as people from the United States. The attacks are mostly on the Afghan Pakistani border. In the attacks, between 2830 and 3549 civilian and militants died by September 30th 2013. Israeli drones have killed Palestinian civilians on March 2009. Because those attacks have killed countless civilians, people question the accuracy of the weapons on the UAVs. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has criticized the use of UAVs. “We don’t know how many hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in these attacks…This would have been unthinkable in previous times.”
Some peace organizations on the U.S. are protesting about drone attacks in Pakistan.
Sad Fact: 3% of the people killed in the Pakistan Drone Attacks are civilians.
Drones in the Future Drones in the future can come in all shapes and sizes. All of them can serve on the battle zone.
Drones performed a key role in present wars already. In the future drones might be more powerful and will probably be used for launching armed attacks. UAVs might replace fighter jets and other military aircraft. Because of its important role and improving technology, more and more countries are able to design, manufacture and operate drones. Drones are going to be the most important elements in battles in the future.
Future Future drones can refuel each other like air tankers can refuel fighters in the future.
Many people around the world think the age of UAVs dominating the skies has started. There are lots of countries around the world testing out new designs of drones. Lots drone manufacturer think that the future is full of chances. The American X-47B (shown on page) is on the sea trials and will be carrier-capable drone. China is testing out their UAVs. The Sharp Sword has a flying wing design to help make it stealth. These drones are still on the testing stage though. Maybe robots will control drones. These magnificent planes will probably have A.I. skills. Drones are certainly going to be the future kings of the skies.
Glossary A.I.:Artificial Intelligence. The ability of a machine thinking by itself. Central Intelligence Agency(CIA):An agency in the U.S. that collects information about other countries and organizations secretly. Casualties: The loss in a war. Flying Wing:An aeronautics design that looks like a big piece of wing. This design is made with little or no fuselage and no tailpiece. Hunter-Killer:A drone that spies on the enemies and attack them. An example is the Predator Launch and Recovery:The drone is launched by a launcher then recovered by a group of people. One of the drones that uses this method is the Ryan Firebee. Palestine:A region in western Asia. Payload:The amount of weight a vehicle, especially an aircraft, can carry. Reconnaissance: Spying Rotor Wing: An aeronautical design that contains spinning wing instead of a fixed wing. A example is a helicopter.
Citation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Unmanned_aerial_vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_drone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Northrop_Grumman_MQ-8_Fire_Scout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Heron http://www.northropgrumman.com/ capabilities/globalhawk/Pages/ default.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Drone_attacks_in_Pakistan
About the Author
The author of this book, Barton Chen, is a student at Shanghai American School. Barton is born on November 11th 2002, in Shanghai, China. He has a strong interest in aviation. The topic of this book was picked by himself on a nonfiction book writing project. He is now working on a piece on his blog site is http://blogs.saschina.org/ barton01px2021/. Now Barton lives with his family in Shanghai, China.
What is a drone? A. A creation more than 60 years old B. A violent monster C. A peacemaker Open the book to choose your answer!