Early Use of UAVs

UAVS ARE NOT NEW; they have a long history in aviation. From early use as target drones and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), the U.S. employed UAVs for reconnaissance purposes during the Korean War, and then as "special purpose aircraft" launched from DC-130s in the Southeast Asia conflict during the late 1960s and early 70s, as part of a closely held classified program. UAV missions were flown mainly to cover areas determined too hazardous for manned reconnaissance aircraft. Some were at altitudes of 60,000 feet and above; others were below 1,000 feet. Missions involved photography and real-time TV relay to the DC-130, electronic intelligence (ELINT) that increased the safety of our manned aircraft in hostile areas, and communications intelligence (COMINT). Some UAV missions, conducted at very low altitudes necessitated by poor weather conditions, provided battle damage assessments (BDAs) to confirm that our strike aircraft had hit their assigned targets. In all cases, these missions were conducted at a fraction of the cost of and risk to manned aircraft.

General awareness of the value of UAVs for U.S. military operations, however, did not emerge until their use during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Prior operations in Grenada and Libya had identified the need for an inexpensive, unmanned, over-the-horizon (OTH) targeting, reconnaissance and BDA capability for force commanders. The Navy answered with the Pioneer RPV as a nondevelopmental item in the late 1980s to support Marine Corps land-based operations, and then quickly modified it for shipboard deployment. The Army received its first Pioneer system in 1990. During Desert Storm, with 85% of the U.S.'s manned tactical reconnaissance assets committed, UAVs emerged as a "must have" capability. Six Pioneer systems in all (three with the Marines, two on Navy battleships, and one with the Army) participated. They provided highly valued near-real-time reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) and BDA, day and night. They often worked with the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) to confirm high-priority mobile targets first detected by that aircraft's moving target indicator (MTI) radar.

Thus, the Persian Gulf War and recent UAV developments have caused the Services and Joint Staff to step up and define (1) requirements for UAVs to support an increasing variety of peace-through-war operations, and (2) the need for different classes of UAVs to cover the operational envelope.