1.
Ryan Firebee
–
The Ryan Firebee was a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and one of the most widely used target drones ever built, the Firebee I was the result of a 1948 US Air Force request and contract to Ryan for a jet-powered gunnery target. The first flight of the XQ-2 Firebee prototype took place in early 1951, the drone featured swept flight surfaces and a circular nose inlet. The initial models had distinctive arrowhead shaped endplates on the tailplane, the Firebee could be air-launched, specially modified Douglas A-26 Invader bombers being first used for this, or ground-launched with a single RATO booster. Following successful evaluation, the target was ordered into production for the USAF as the Q-2A, powered by a Continental J69-T-19B turbojet engine, the Air Force then obtained small numbers of a Q-2B with a more powerful engine for high-altitude performance. The US Navy bought the Firebee as the KDA-1, with much the appearance as the Q-2A, differing mainly in that the powerplant was a Fairchild J44-R-20B turbojet. The KDA-1 could be distinguished from the Q-2A from the fact that the KDA-1 had an inlet centerbody, the US Army also obtained a version designated the XM21 that differed from the KDA-1 only in minor details. The Navy obtained several improved variants zob of the KDA-1, including the XKDA-2 and XKDA-3, which were not built in quantity, and the KDA-4 and these variants were hard to distinguish from the KDA-1, differing mainly in successively uprated J44 engines and minor changes. In the late 1950s, the USAF awarded Ryan a contract for an improved second generation Firebee. The initial prototype performed its first flight in late 1958 and went into production in 1960, in 1963, it was redesignated the BQM-34A. The old first-generation KDA-1 and KDA-4 targets that were flying with the Navy were then, somewhat confusingly, given the designations AQM-34B. It was powered by a Continental J69-T-29A turbojet, a copy of the improved Turbomeca Gourdon derivative of the Marbore, the Navy also adopted the BQM-34A, while the Army obtained a ground-launched version designated MQM-34D, with longer wings and a heavier JATO booster. Since most modern pictures of Firebees show the ventral fin, this may have due to production changes of some sort. Sources are not clear on the issue, in 1960, the first stealth technology development program was initiated by USAF, by reducing the radar cross-section of a Q-2C drone. This was achieved through specially designed screens over the air intake, radar-absorbent material on the fuselage, in the meantime, the Navy upgraded their BQM-34As with improved avionics, which were then designated BQM-34S. In the early 1980s, the Navy also began to refit these with the uprated J69-T-41A engine, the Air Force began to update their BQM-34As with improved avionics, and fitted them with the J85-GE-7 engine. The new engine was fitted without major changes in the airframe. BQM-34A production ended in 1982, but the line was reopened in 1986 to produce more BQM-34S targets
2.
Aircraft
–
An aircraft is a machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the lift of an airfoil. The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called aviation, crewed aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot, but unmanned aerial vehicles may be remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Aircraft may be classified by different criteria, such as type, aircraft propulsion, usage. Each of the two World Wars led to technical advances. Consequently, the history of aircraft can be divided into five eras, Pioneers of flight, first World War,1914 to 1918. Aviation between the World Wars,1918 to 1939, Second World War,1939 to 1945. Postwar era, also called the jet age,1945 to the present day, aerostats use buoyancy to float in the air in much the same way that ships float on the water. They are characterized by one or more large gasbags or canopies, filled with a relatively low-density gas such as helium, hydrogen, or hot air, which is less dense than the surrounding air. When the weight of this is added to the weight of the aircraft structure, a balloon was originally any aerostat, while the term airship was used for large, powered aircraft designs – usually fixed-wing. In 1919 Frederick Handley Page was reported as referring to ships of the air, in the 1930s, large intercontinental flying boats were also sometimes referred to as ships of the air or flying-ships. – though none had yet been built, the advent of powered balloons, called dirigible balloons, and later of rigid hulls allowing a great increase in size, began to change the way these words were used. Huge powered aerostats, characterized by an outer framework and separate aerodynamic skin surrounding the gas bags, were produced. There were still no fixed-wing aircraft or non-rigid balloons large enough to be called airships, then several accidents, such as the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, led to the demise of these airships. Nowadays a balloon is an aerostat and an airship is a powered one. A powered, steerable aerostat is called a dirigible, sometimes this term is applied only to non-rigid balloons, and sometimes dirigible balloon is regarded as the definition of an airship. Non-rigid dirigibles are characterized by a moderately aerodynamic gasbag with stabilizing fins at the back and these soon became known as blimps. During the Second World War, this shape was adopted for tethered balloons, in windy weather
3.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Lockheed Corporation
–
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995, the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company was established in San Francisco in 1912 by the brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead. Following the Model F-1, the company invested heavily in the design, however, the asking price of $2500 could not compete in a market that was saturated with post World War 1 $350 Curtiss JN-4s and De Haviland trainers. The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company closed its doors in 1921, in 1926, Allan Loughead, Jack Northrop, and Kenneth Jay secured funding to form the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Hollywood. This new company utilized some of the technology originally developed for the Model S-1 to design the Vega Model. In March 1928, the relocated to Burbank, California. From 1926-28 the company produced over 80 aircraft and employed more than 300 workers who by April 1929 were building five aircraft per week, in July 1929, majority shareholder Fred Keeler sold 87% of the Lockheed Aircraft Company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In August 1929, Allan Lockheed resigned, the Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $40,000, ironically, Allan Lockheed himself had planned to bid for his own company, but had raised only $50,000, which he felt was too small a sum for a serious bid. In 1934, Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and his brother Courtlandt S. Gross was a co-founder and executive, succeeding Robert as Chairman following his death in 1961. The company was named the Lockheed Corporation in 1977, in the 1930s, Lockheed spent $139,400 to develop the Model 10 Electra, a small twin-engined transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production, amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, flew it in their failed attempt to circumnavigate the world in 1937. Subsequent designs, the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra expanded their market. The Lockheed Model 14 formed the basis for the Hudson bomber and its primary role was submarine hunting. The Model 14 Super Electra were sold abroad, and more than 100 were license-built in Japan for use by the Imperial Japanese Army, the P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. It filled ground-attack, air-to-air, and even strategic bombing roles in all theaters of the war in which the United States operated, the Lockheed Vega factory was located next to Burbanks Union Airport which it had purchased in 1940. During the war, the area was camouflaged to fool enemy aerial reconnaissance
5.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models
6.
Unmanned aerial vehicle
–
An unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system, which include a UAV, a controller. The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy, either under control by a human operator, or fully or intermittently autonomously. Compared to manned aircraft, UAVs are often preferred for missions too dull, civilian drones now vastly outnumber military drones, with estimates of over a million sold by 2015. Multiple terms are used for unmanned vehicles, which generally refer to the same concept. The term drone, more used by the public, was coined in reference to the resemblance of navigation. The term has encountered opposition from aviation professionals and government regulators. This term emphasizes the importance of other than the aircraft. It includes elements such as ground stations, data links. A similar term is a vehicle system remotely piloted aerial vehicle. Many similar terms are in use, therefore, missiles are not considered UAVs because the vehicle itself is a weapon that is not reused, though it is also unmanned and in some cases remotely guided. The relation of UAVs to remote controlled model aircraft is unclear, UAVs may or may not include model aircraft. Some jurisdictions base their definition on size or weight, however, a radio-controlled aircraft becomes a drone with the addition of an autopilot artificial intelligence, and ceases to be a drone when an AI is removed. In 1849 Austria sent unmanned, bomb-filled balloons to attack Venice, UAV innovations started in the early 1900s and originally focused on providing practice targets for training military personnel. UAV development continued during World War I, when the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company invented a pilotless aerial torpedo that would explode at a preset time, the earliest attempt at a powered UAV was A. M. Lows Aerial Target in 1916. Nikola Tesla described a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles in 1915. Advances followed during and after World War I, including the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, the first scaled remote piloted vehicle was developed by film star and model-airplane enthusiast Reginald Denny in 1935. More emerged during World War II – used both to train gunners and to fly attack missions
7.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
8.
1960 U-2 incident
–
Powers parachuted safely and was captured. The U-2 flew at altitudes that could not be reached by Soviet fighter jets of the era, a facility established in Badaber,10 miles from Peshawar, was a cover for a major communications intercept operation run by the United States National Security Agency. Badaber was an excellent location because of its proximity to Soviet central Asia and this enabled the monitoring of missile test sites, key infrastructure and communications. The U-2 spy-in-the-sky was allowed to use the Pakistan Air Force portion of Peshawar Airport to gain photo intelligence in an era before satellite observation. At a time like the Cold War, any act of aggression could spark open conflict between the two countries, with the United Kingdom still reeling from the aftermath of the Suez Crisis and in no position to snub American requests, the British government was amenable to the proposal. The final two missions before the summit were to be flown by American pilots, the U-2 left Soviet air space and landed at an Iranian airstrip at Zahedan. It was clear that the U. S, Central Intelligence Agency had successfully performed an extraordinary intelligence operation. The next flight of the U-2 spyplane from Peshawar airport was planned for late April, Lockheed U-2C spy plane, Article 358, was ferried from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to the US base at Peshawar airport by pilot Glen Dunaway. Fuel for the aircraft had been ferried to Peshawar the previous day in a US Air Force C-124 transport, a US Air Force C-130 followed, carrying the ground crew, mission pilot Francis Gary Powers, and the back up pilot, Bob Ericson. On the morning of 29 April, the crew in Badaber was informed that the mission had been delayed one day, as a result, Bob Ericson flew Article 358 back to Incirlik and John Shinn ferried another U-2C, Article 360, from Incirlik to Peshawar. On 30 April, the mission was delayed one day further because of bad weather over the Soviet Union, at the time, the USSR had six ICBM launch pads, two at Baikonur and four at Plesetsk. Mayak, then named Chelyabinsk-65, an important industrial center of plutonium processing, was another of the targets that Powers was to photograph. A close study of Powerss account of the shows that one of the last targets he overflew. Because of the U-2s extreme operating altitude, Soviet attempts to intercept the plane using fighter aircraft failed. The U-2s course was out of range of several of the nearest SAM sites, the U-2 was eventually brought down near Kosulino, Ural Region, by the first of three SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles fired by a battery commanded by Mikhail Voronov. The SA-2 site had previously identified by the CIA, using photos taken during Vice President Richard Nixons visit to Sverdlovsk the previous summer. Powers bailed out but neglected to disconnect his oxygen hose first and struggled with it until it broke, Powers was captured soon after parachuting safely down onto Russian soil. Powers carried with him a silver dollar which contained a lethal, shellfish-derived saxitoxin-tipped needle
9.
S-75 Dvina
–
The S-75 Dvina is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Since its first deployment in 1957 it has become the most widely deployed air defence system in history and this success was attributed to Chinese fighter aircraft at the time in order to keep the S-75 program secret. The system was deployed in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. North Vietnamese forces used the S-75 extensively during the Vietnam War to defend Hanoi and it has also been locally produced in the Peoples Republic of China using the names HQ-1 and HQ-2. In the early 1950s, the United States Air Force rapidly accelerated its development of jet bombers carrying nuclear weapons. The USAF program led to the deployment of Boeing B-47 Stratojet supported by aerial refueling aircraft to extend its range deep into the Soviet Union, the USAF quickly followed the B-47 with the development of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which had greater range and payload than the B-47. The range, speed, and payload of these U. S. bombers posed a significant threat to the Soviet Union in the event of a war between the two countries, consequently, the Soviets initiated the development of improved air defence systems. Although the Soviet Air Defence Forces had large numbers of artillery, including radar-directed batteries. Therefore, the Soviet Air Defence Forces began the development of systems to replace the World War II-vintage gun defences. In 1953, KB-2 began the development of what became the S-75 under the direction of Pyotr Grushin and this program focused on producing a missile which could bring down a large, non-maneuvering, high-altitude aircraft. As such it did not need to be maneuverable, merely fast. For such a system, development proceeded rapidly, and testing began a few years later. In 1957, the public first became aware of the S-75 when the missile was shown at that years May Day parade in Moscow. Wide-scale deployment started in 1957, with various upgrades following over the few years. The S-75 was never meant to replace the S-25 Berkut surface-to-air missile sites around Moscow, between mid-1958 and 1964, U. S. intelligence assets located more than 600 S-75 sites in the USSR. These sites tended to cluster around population centers, industrial complexes, a ring of sites was also located around likely bomber routes into the Soviet heartland. By the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union had ended the deployment of the S-75 with perhaps 1,000 operational sites, in addition to the Soviet Union, several S-75 batteries were deployed during the 1960s in East Germany to protect Soviet forces stationed in that country. Later the system was sold to most Warsaw Pact countries and was provided to China, North Korea, the aircraft was hit by a Chinese-operated S-75 site near Beijing on October 7,1959
10.
Surface-to-air missile
–
A surface-to-air missile, or ground-to-air missile, is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of system, in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated antiaircraft weapons. The first serious attempts at SAM development took place during World War II, further development in the 1940s and 1950s led to the first operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s. The American Nike Ajax was the first operational guided missile SAM system, widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like the Stinger and Strela-3. The first known idea for a guided missile was in 1925. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rockets four tail fins, when one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in the opposite direction back into the beam. During World War II, efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was considered that flak was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a shell is fairly small. Against the Boeing B-17, which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights flak guns, bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases the cost of the system, and slows the rate of fire, faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234, the first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, the directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and the resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. None of these saw any real development until 1943, when the first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter, in general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and these designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below, both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on a single radar screen. Development of all systems was carried out at the same time
Media related to DC-130 Hercules drone control aircraft at Wikimedia Commons