ERAU Unmanned Systems by Raymond DeMarco

Unmanned Retrofitted Aircraft Then and Now             In August of 1944 the United States had begun Operation Aphrodite.  War worn B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators had been stripped of armor, armament and all non-essentials to free up to 12,000 pounds which would be used to pack the expired aircraft with a new British explosive called Torpex that was 50 percent more powerful than TNT.  The mission was to destroy high priority German targets that were hardened and heavily defended such as V-2, and V-3 weapon sites and German U-boat pens (Operation Aphrodite, 2012).  These missions were extremely dangerous.  A volunteer pilot and co-pilot were awarded 5 missions to fly the aircraft to 2000 feet, arm the 21,000 pounds of Torpex explosives and bail out of the aircraft at 160 mph (Operation Aphrodite Drones Set to Destroy German, 2017).  This mission is widely known for the death of Joseph Kenned...

The first mass produced aerial target UAVs referred to in this discussion is the Radioplane OQ-2.  Showcased to the army in 1935, Radioplane went on to produce 15,000 units to the Army Air Force and U.S. Navy.  This became an important training tool for anti-aircraft gunners leading up to world war II.  To appreciate the awesomeness of today’s unmanned aerospace systems (UAS) it is important to understand the origins.  One aspect imperative to the success of a UAS mission is command, control and communication (C3).  Radio control back in the day of electromechanical RC controlled boats and aircraft would transmit different frequencies (on/off signals) in response to operators’ movements on the control stick.  This method for control was simple but easily susceptible to interference and disruption Going fast-forward almost 100 years, still in the form of electromagnetic waves, most command guidance does not directly control an unmanned system.  ...