Attack of the Drones - A History of Unmanned Aerial Combat

This is a title that will be of interest to modern combat analysts and contemporary historians. Attack of the Drones looks into the history of unmanned flight, from the early Radioplanes of WWII through the Firebees that experimented with remote weapons delivery and reconnaissance, to the Compass Cope that would become the predecessor to the Global Hawk.

The author provides a well-written and nicely illustrated roadmap of past, present and future unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). As was mentioned above, coverage begins with the Radioplanes which were the first UAVs from WW2 that were used as targets for naval anti-aircraft gunners. The technology evolved into the Firebee and Chukar UAVs which were targets and sensor platforms during the Vietnam war era. These, in turn, led to the current family of Hunters, Predators and Global Hawks in use today. Coverage looks into the future as well with the X-45 and X-47 vehicles and the Fire Hawk.

The coverage of this informative title is presented as follows:.

• The Early Days of Unmanned Military Aircraft
• Battlefield UAVs of the Late Cold War
• UAVs Com of Age
• UAVs Go on the Attack
• The Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle

This is a great title to have around if you're starting to work in the UAV field or are interested in their capabilities and employment. This title is highly recommended!

My sincere thanks to Motorbooks International for this review sample!