Editing Unmanned aerial vehicle (section)

===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>