Editing Unmanned aerial vehicle (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of unmanned aerial vehicles}}

[[File:Winston Churchill and the Secretary of State for War waiting to see the launch of a de Havilland Queen Bee radio-controlled target drone, 6 June 1941. H10307.jpg|thumb|right|[[Winston Churchill]] and others waiting to watch the launch of a [[De Havilland Tiger Moth#Gunnery target drone|de Havilland Queen Bee]] [[target drone]], 6 June 1941]]
[[File:Teledyne-Ryan-Firebee-hatzerim-1.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Ryan Firebee]], one of a series of target drones/unpiloted aerial vehicles that first flew in 1951. [[Israeli Air Force Museum]], Hatzerim airbase, Israel, 2006]]
[[File:Last preparation before first tactical mission across Suez canal (1969).jpg|thumb|Last preparations before the first tactical UAV mission across the Suez Canal (1969). Standing: Major Shabtai Brill from the Israeli Intelligence Corps, the innovator of the tactical UAV.]]
[[File:Tadiran-Mastiff-III-hatzerim-1.jpg|thumb|The Israeli [[Tadiran Mastiff]], which first flew in 1975, is seen by many as the first modern battlefield UAV, due to its data-link system, endurance-loitering, and live video-streaming.<ref>The ''Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History: A Political, Social, and Military History'', ABC-CLIO, 12 May 2008, by Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts, pages 1054–55 ISBN</ref>]]

===Early drones===
The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YSSPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT43 The Future of Drone Use: Opportunities and Threats from Ethical and Legal Perspectives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213802/https://books.google.com/books?id=YSSPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT43 |date=27 February 2023 }}, Asser Press{{snd}} Springer, chapter by Alan McKenna, page 355</ref> with a [[balloon carrier]] (the precursor to the [[aircraft carrier]])<ref name="Kaplan">{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Philip|title=Naval Aviation in the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDARBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT19|year=2013|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-2997-8|page=19|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=27 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213802/https://books.google.com/books?id=pDARBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT19|url-status=live}}</ref> in the first offensive use of [[air power]] in [[naval aviation]].<ref name="Hallion">{{cite book|last= Hallion|first= Richard P.|title= Taking Flight: Inventing the Aerial Age, from Antiquity through the First World War|url= https://archive.org/details/takingflightinve0000hall|url-access= registration|year= 2003|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028959-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/takingflightinve0000hall/page/66 66]}}</ref><ref name="LaymanFirst">[https://archive.org/details/navalaviationinf00laym <!-- quote=vulcano balloon venice. --> Naval Aviation in the First World War: Its Impact and Influence], R. D. Layman, page 56</ref><ref name="RennerFirst">{{cite book|last=Renner|first=Stephen L.|title=Broken Wings: The Hungarian Air Force, 1918–45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDoJDgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2016|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-02339-1|page=2|access-date=26 October 2019|archive-date=27 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213803/https://books.google.com/books?id=HDoJDgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref> Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to launch some 200 [[incendiary balloon]]s at the besieged city. The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the Austrian ship {{SMS|Vulcano}}. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and the launching ship ''Vulcano''.<ref name="Murphy">{{cite book|last= Murphy|first= Justin D.|title= Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7pS1QpH8FRgC&pg=PA9|year= 2005|publisher= ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-1-85109-488-2|pages= 9–10|access-date= 19 August 2019|archive-date= 27 February 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213804/https://books.google.com/books?id=7pS1QpH8FRgC&pg=PA9|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Haydon">{{cite book|last=Haydon|first=F. Stansbury|title= Military Ballooning During the Early Civil War|url= https://archive.org/details/militaryballooni00hayd |url-access= registration|year=2000|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-6442-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/militaryballooni00hayd/page/18 18]–20}}</ref><ref name="Mikesh">{{Cite journal |last=Mikesh |first=Robert C. |title=Japan's World War II balloon bomb attacks on North America |year= 1973 |journal=Smithsonian Annals of Flight |issue= 9 |pages=1–85 |location=Washington, DC |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/18679/SAoF-0009-Lo_res.pdf |access-date=12 July 2018|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206005953/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/18679/SAoF-0009-Lo_res.pdf|url-status=live|hdl=10088/18679|doi=10.5479/si.AnnalsFlight.9|issn=0081-0207}}</ref>

The Spanish engineer [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo]] introduced a radio-based control-system called the [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo#Radio control: the Telekino|''Telekino'']]<ref>[[Tapan K. Sarkar]], ''History of wireless'', John Wiley and Sons, 2006, {{ISBN|0-471-71814-9}}, p. 97.</ref> at the [[Paris Academy of Science]] in 1903, as a way of testing [[airship]]s without risking human life.<ref>[[Biodiversity Heritage Library]]. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31206#page/323/mode/1up ''Mécanique Appliquée. - Sur le télékine. Note de M. L. Torres, présentée par M. Appell''] 3 August 1903, pp. 317-319, Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences.</ref><ref>Randy Alfred, "[https://www.wired.com/2011/11/1107wireless-remote-control/ Nov. 7, 1905: Remote Control Wows Public]", ''Wired'', 7 November 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=H. R. Everett |title=Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |date=2015 |pages=91–95 |isbn=978-0-262-02922-3}}</ref>

Significant development of drones started in the 1900s, and originally focused on providing practice targets for training [[military personnel]]. The earliest attempt at a powered UAV was [[Archibald Low|A. M. Low]]'s "Aerial Target" in 1916.<ref name="autogenerated1">Taylor, John W. R.. ''Jane's Pocket Book of Remotely Piloted Vehicles''.</ref> Low confirmed that Geoffrey de Havilland's monoplane was the one that flew under control on 21 March 1917 using his radio system.<ref>Professor A. M. Low FLIGHT, 3 October 1952 page 436 "The First Guided Missile"</ref> Following this successful demonstration in the spring of 1917 Low was transferred to develop aircraft controlled fast motor launches [[Coastal Motor Boat|D.C.B.s]] with the Royal Navy in 1918 intended to attack shipping and port installations and he also assisted [[Frank Arthur Brock|Wing Commander Brock]] in preparations for the [[Zeebrugge Raid]]. Other [[British unmanned aerial vehicles of World War I|British unmanned developments]] followed, leading to the fleet of over 400 [[de Havilland Tiger Moth|de Havilland 82 Queen Bee]] aerial targets that went into service in 1935.

[[Nikola Tesla]] described a fleet of uncrewed aerial combat vehicles in 1915.<ref name="armyeyes">{{cite web |last=Dempsey |first=Martin E.|url= http://www.rucker.army.mil/usaace/uas/US%20Army%20UAS%20RoadMap%202010%202035.pdf |title=Eyes of the Army—U.S. Army Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems 2010–2035 |publisher=[[U.S. Army]] |date=9 April 2010 |access-date=6 March 2011 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180922052536/http://www.rucker.army.mil/usaace/uas/US%20Army%20UAS%20RoadMap%202010%202035.pdf }}</ref> These developments also inspired the construction of the [[Kettering Bug]] by [[Charles Kettering]] from [[Dayton, Ohio]] and the [[Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane]] – initially meant as an uncrewed plane that would carry an explosive payload to a predetermined target. Development continued during World War I, when the [[Dayton-Wright Airplane Company]] invented a pilotless [[aerial torpedo]] that would explode at a preset time.<ref>{{cite web|last= Says|first= Robert Kanyike|title= History of U.S. Drones|url= http://understandingempire.wordpress.com/2-0-a-brief-history-of-u-s-drones/|date= 21 May 2012|access-date= 17 February 2014|archive-date= 26 September 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190926020824/https://understandingempire.wordpress.com/2-0-a-brief-history-of-u-s-drones/|url-status= live}}</ref>

The film star and [[model-airplane]] enthusiast [[Reginald Denny (actor)|Reginald Denny]] developed the first scaled remote piloted vehicle in 1935.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

Soviet researchers experimented with controlling [[Tupolev TB-1]] bombers remotely in the late 1930s.<ref>{{cite book  |last1            = Andersson  |first1           = Lennart  |title            = Soviet Aircraft and Aviation, 1917–1941  |url              = https://books.google.com/books?id=1lzbAAAAMAAJ  |series           = The Putnam Aviation Series  |year             = 1994  |location         = Annapolis, Maryland  |publisher        = Naval Institute Press  |publication-date = 1994 |page             = 249  |isbn             = 9781557507709  |access-date      = 18 December 2021 |quote            = Experiments with a pilotless drone version of the TB-1 controlled by radio from other aircraft started in 1935 and continued until 1939. |archive-date     = 27 February 2023  |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213805/https://books.google.com/books?id=1lzbAAAAMAAJ  |url-status       = live }}</ref>

===World War II===
In 1940, Denny started the [[Radioplane Company]] and more models emerged during [[World War II]]{{snd}} used both to train antiaircraft gunners and to fly attack-missions. [[Nazi Germany]] produced and used various UAV aircraft during the war, like the [[Argus As 292]] and the [[V-1 flying bomb]] with a [[jet engine]]. [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] developed a specialised drone version of the [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero|Savoia-Marchetti SM.79]] flown by remote control, although the Armistice with Italy was enacted prior to any operational deployment.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fNjgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA318 318]|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|title=Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II|author=H. R. Everett|year=2015|isbn=9780262029223}}</ref>

===Postwar period===
After World War II development continued in vehicles such as the American [[JB-4]] (using television/radio-command guidance), the Australian [[GAF Jindivik]] and [[Ryan Aeronautical|Teledyne Ryan]] [[Ryan Firebee|Firebee I]] of 1951, while companies like [[Beechcraft]] offered their [[Beechcraft MQM-61 Cardinal|Model 1001]] for the [[U.S. Navy]] in 1955.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Nevertheless, they were little more than remote-controlled airplanes until the [[Vietnam War]]. In 1959, the [[U.S. Air Force]], concerned about losing pilots over hostile territory, began planning for the use of uncrewed aircraft.{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p= xi}} Planning intensified after the [[Soviet Union]] [[1960 U-2 incident|shot down a U-2]] in 1960. Within days, a highly [[classified information|classified]] UAV program started under the code name of "Red Wagon".{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p= xi, xii}} The August 1964 [[Tonkin Gulf Incident|clash in the Tonkin Gulf]] between naval units of the U.S. and the [[North Vietnamese Navy]] initiated America's highly classified UAVs ([[Ryan Model 147]], [[Ryan AQM-91 Firefly]], [[Lockheed D-21]]) into their first combat missions of the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=xii}} When the Chinese government{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=79}} showed photographs of downed U.S. UAVs via ''Wide World Photos'',{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=78, 79}} the official U.S. response was "no comment".

During the [[War of Attrition]] (1967–1970) in the Middle East, Israeli intelligence tested the first tactical UAVs installed with [[reconnaissance]] cameras, which successfully returned photos from across the Suez Canal. This was the first time that tactical UAVs that could be launched and landed on any short runway (unlike the heavier jet-based UAVs) were developed and tested in battle.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Dunstan | first1 = Simon | title = Israeli Fortifications of the October War 1973 | url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=CPm8EocIfoQC|page=16}} | publisher = Osprey Publishing | date = 2013 | page = 16 | isbn = 9781782004318 | access-date = 25 October 2015 | quote = The War of Attrition was also notable for the first use of UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, carrying reconnaissance cameras in combat. }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], [[Israel]] used UAVs as decoys to spur opposing forces into wasting expensive anti-aircraft missiles.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Saxena | first1 = V. K. | author-link1 = Corps of Army Air Defence#Director General | title = The Amazing Growth and Journey of UAV's and Ballistic Missile Defence Capabilities: Where the Technology is Leading to? | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hwWqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 | publisher = Vij Books India Pvt Ltd | date = 2013 | page = 6 | isbn = 9789382573807 | access-date = 25 October 2015 | quote = During the Yom Kippur War the Israelis used Teledyne Ryan 124 R RPVs along with the home-grown Scout and Mastiff UAVs for reconnaissance, surveillance, and as decoys to draw fire from Arab SAMs. This resulted in Arab forces expending costly and scarce missiles on inappropriate targets [...]. | archive-date = 27 February 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213814/https://books.google.com/books?id=hwWqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 | url-status = live }}</ref> After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a few key people from the team that developed this early UAV joined a small startup company that aimed to develop UAVs into a commercial product, eventually purchased by Tadiran and leading to the development of the first Israeli UAV.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Blum |first1= Howard |title= The eve of destruction: the untold story of the Yom Kippur War |date= 2003 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=9780060013998 |language=en}}</ref>{{Pages needed|date=January 2019}}

In 1973, the U.S. military officially confirmed that they had been using UAVs in Southeast Asia (Vietnam).{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=202}} Over 5,000 U.S. airmen had been killed and over 1,000 more were [[Missing In Action|missing]] or [[POW|captured]]. The USAF [[100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing]] flew about 3,435 UAV missions during the war{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=200, 212}} at a cost of about 554 UAVs lost to all causes. In the words of USAF [[General]] [[George S. Brown]], Commander, [[Air Force Systems Command]], in 1972, "The only reason we need (UAVs) is that we don't want to needlessly expend the man in the cockpit."{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=208}} Later that year, General [[John C. Meyer]], Commander in Chief, [[Strategic Air Command]], stated, "we let the drone do the high-risk flying&nbsp;... the loss rate is high, but we are willing to risk more of them&nbsp;...they save lives!"{{sfn|Wagner|1982|p=208}}

During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], Soviet-supplied [[surface-to-air missile]]-batteries in [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]] caused heavy damage to Israeli [[fighter jet]]s. As a result, Israel developed the [[IAI Scout]] as the first UAV with real-time surveillance.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.howstuffworks.com/reaper1.htm | title = A Brief History of UAVs | publisher = Howstuffworks.com | access-date = 8 January 2015 | date = 22 July 2008 | archive-date = 22 May 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130522111255/http://www.howstuffworks.com/reaper1.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20090409.aspx | title = Russia Buys A Bunch of Israeli UAVs | publisher = Strategypage.com | access-date = 8 January 2015 | archive-date = 26 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131026110814/http://strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20090409.aspx | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000691790 | title = Unmanned combat vehicles shaping future warfare | first = Yuval | last = Azoulai | date = 24 October 2011 | work = [[Globes (newspaper)|Globes]] | access-date = 8 January 2015 | archive-date = 3 December 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203060756/http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000691790
| url-status = live }}</ref> The images and radar decoys provided by these UAVs helped Israel to [[Operation Mole Cricket 19|completely neutralize]] the Syrian [[air defense]]s at the start of the [[1982 Lebanon War]], resulting in no pilots downed.<ref name="WSJLevinson">{{cite news | url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126325146524725387 | title = Israeli Robots Remake Battlefield | first = Charles | last = Levinson | date = 13 January 2010 | work = [[The Wall Street Journal]] | page = A10 | access-date = 13 January 2010 | archive-date = 13 March 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200313163718/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126325146524725387 | url-status = live }}</ref> In Israel in 1987, UAVs were first used as proof-of-concept of super-agility, post-stall controlled flight in combat-flight simulations that involved tailless, stealth-technology-based, three-dimensional thrust vectoring flight-control, and jet-steering.<ref>{{cite book |first = Benjamin |last = Gal-Or |title = Vectored Propulsion, Supermaneuverability & Robot Aircraft |publisher = Springer Verlag |year = 1990 |isbn = 978-3-540-97161-0 }}</ref>

===Modern UAVs===
[[File:STM_Kargu.png|thumb|The Turkish [[STM Kargu]] was the first [[lethal autonomous weapon]] to attack enemy combatants in warfare.]]
With the maturing and miniaturization of applicable technologies in the 1980s and 1990s, interest in UAVs grew within the higher echelons of the U.S. military. The U.S. funded the [[Counterterrorism Mission Center|Counterterrorism Center]] (CTC) within the CIA, which sought to fight terrorism with the aid of modernized drone technology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fuller |first=Christopher J. |date=2015 |title=The Eagle Comes Home to Roost: The Historical Origins of the CIA's Lethal Drone Program |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2014.895569 |journal=Intelligence and National Security |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=769–792|doi=10.1080/02684527.2014.895569 |s2cid=154927243 }}</ref> In the 1990s, the U.S. DoD gave a contract to [[AAI Corporation]] along with Israeli company Malat. The U.S. Navy bought the [[AAI RQ-2 Pioneer|AAI Pioneer UAV]] that AAI and Malat developed jointly. Many of these UAVs saw service in the [[1991 Gulf War]]. UAVs demonstrated the possibility of cheaper, more capable fighting-machines, deployable without risk to aircrews. Initial generations primarily involved [[surveillance aircraft]], but [[unmanned combat air vehicle|some carried armaments]], such as the [[General Atomics MQ-1 Predator]], that launched [[AGM-114 Hellfire]] [[air-to-ground missile]]s.

[[CAPECON project|CAPECON]], a [[European Union]] [[project]] to develop UAVs,<ref name="Z. Goraj, A. Frydrychewicz, R. Świtkiewicz, B. Hernik, J. Gadomski, T. Goetzendorf-Grabowski, M. Figat, St Suchodolski, W. Chajec">{{cite book |url=http://bulletin.pan.pl/(52-3)173.pdf |author1=Z. Goraj |author2=A. Frydrychewicz |author3=R. Świtkiewicz |author4=B. Hernik |author5=J. Gadomski |author6=T. Goetzendorf-Grabowski |author7=M. Figat |author8=St Suchodolski |author9=W. Chajec |title=report |publisher=Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Technical Sciences, Volume 52. Number 3, 2004 |access-date=9 December 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071427/http://bulletin.pan.pl/(52-3)173.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ran from 1 May 2002 to 31 December 2005.<ref name="CORDIS">{{cite book|url=http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/63495_en.html|author=Community Research and Development Information Service|title=Civil UAV application and economic effectiveness of potential configuration solutions|publisher=Publications Office of the European Union|access-date=9 December 2015|author-link=Community Research and Development Information Service|archive-date=29 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129123521/http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/63495_en.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{As of | 2012}}, the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) employed 7,494 UAVs{{snd}} almost one in three USAF aircraft.<ref name="WIRED">{{cite magazine|url= https://www.wired.com/2012/01/drone-report/|title= Almost 1 in 3 U.S. Warplanes Is a Robot|magazine= Wired|access-date= 8 January 2015|first1= Spencer|last1= Ackerman|first2= Noah|last2= Shachtman|date= 9 January 2012|archive-date= 23 March 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200323171457/https://www.wired.com/2012/01/drone-report/|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Singer" /> The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] [[Use of UAVs by the CIA|also operated UAVs]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Radsan|first1= A. J.|last2= Murphy|first2=Richard|title= Measure Twice, Shoot Once: Higher Care for CIA Targeted Killing|journal= University of Illinois Law Review |pages=1201–1241|volume= 2011|issue=4 |year=2011 |ssrn=1625829}}</ref> By 2013 at least 50 countries used UAVs. China, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey, and others designed and built their own varieties. The use of drones has continued to increase.<ref name="sayler">Sayler (2015)</ref> Due to their wide proliferation, no comprehensive list of UAV systems exists.<ref name="Singer">Singer, Peter W. [http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2009/11_robotic_revolution_singer.aspx "A Revolution Once More: Unmanned Systems and the Middle East"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806065520/http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2009/11_robotic_revolution_singer.aspx |date=6 August 2011 }}. The Brookings Institution. November 2009.</ref><ref name="Franke">Franke, Ulrike Esther (2015). "The global diffusion of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or 'drones{{'"}}. In Mike Aaronson, ed. ''Precision Strike Warfare and International Intervention''. Routledge.</ref>

The development of smart technologies and improved electrical-power systems led to a parallel increase in the use of drones for consumer and general aviation activities. {{As of|2021}}, [[quadcopter]] drones exemplify the widespread popularity of hobby [[radio-controlled aircraft]] and toys, but the use of UAVs in commercial and general aviation is limited by a lack of autonomy{{clarify|date=December 2021}} and by new regulatory environments which require line-of-sight contact with the pilot.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In 2020, a [[STM Kargu|Kargu 2]] drone hunted down and attacked a human target in [[Libya]], according to a report from the [[UN Security Council]]'s Panel of Experts on Libya, published in March 2021. This may have been the first time an [[Lethal autonomous weapon|autonomous killer-robot]] armed with lethal weaponry attacked human beings.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last= Hambling|first= David|title= Drones may have attacked humans fully autonomously for the first time|url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/2278852-drones-may-have-attacked-humans-fully-autonomously-for-the-first-time/|access-date= 2021-05-30|magazine= New Scientist|language= en-GB|archive-date= 30 July 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210730173534/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2278852-drones-may-have-attacked-humans-fully-autonomously-for-the-first-time/|url-status= live}}</ref>

Superior drone technology, specifically the Turkish [[Bayraktar TB2]], played a role in Azerbaijan's successes in the [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war]] against Armenia.<ref>{{cite news  |last1 = Forestier-Walker  |first1 = Robin |title = Nagorno-Karabakh: New weapons for an old conflict spell danger |url              = https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/13/nagorno-karabakh-new-weapons-for-an-old-conflict-spell-danger |work = Al Jazeera |publication-date = 13 October 2020 |access-date = 18 December 2021 |quote = ...&nbsp;battlefield videos and the known military capabilities of the two warring sides suggest Azerbaijan has the technological advantage, especially with its combat drones purchased from Israel and Turkey. |archive-date = 13 October 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201013185319/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/13/nagorno-karabakh-new-weapons-for-an-old-conflict-spell-danger |url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Helicopter Above Perseverance on Mars (cropped).jpg|thumb|Artist's concept of ''[[Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity]]'' landing on [[Mars]]]]

UAVs are also used in [[NASA]] missions. The ''[[Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity]]'' helicopter is an autonomous UAV that operated on Mars from 2021 to 2024. {{As of|2024}} the [[Dragonfly (Titan space probe)|Dragonfly spacecraft]] is being developed, and is aiming to reach and examine [[Saturn]]'s moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]]. Its primary goal is to roam around the surface, expanding the amount of area to be researched previously seen by [[Lander (spacecraft)|lander]]s. As a UAV, Dragonfly allows examination of potentially diverse types of soil. The drone is set to launch in 2027, and is estimated to take seven more years to reach the Saturnian system.

Miniaturization is also supporting the development of small UAVs which can be used as individual system or in a fleet offering the possibility to survey large areas, in a relatively small amount of time.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Bailon-Ruiz |first1=Rafael |last2=Lacroix |first2=Simon |last3=Bit-Monnot |first3=Arthur |conference=2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) |title=Planning to Monitor Wildfires with a Fleet of UAVs |date=October 2018 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8593859 |location=Madrid |publisher=IEEE |pages=4729–4734 |doi=10.1109/IROS.2018.8593859 |isbn=978-1-5386-8094-0 |s2cid=52970107 |conference-url=https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01852176 |access-date=11 January 2023 |archive-date=29 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229172238/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8593859/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to data from [[GlobalData]], the global military uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) market, which forms a significant part of the UAV industry, is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% over the next decade. This represents a near doubling in market size, from $12.5 billion in 2024 to an estimated $20 billion by 2034.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=John |date=2024-05-07 |title=In data: UAS market projected to nearly double in ten years |url=https://www.army-technology.com/news/in-data-uas-market-projected-to-nearly-double-in-ten-years/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Army Technology |language=en-US}}</ref>