MIflyer
Captain
Russia has used large numbers of Iranian drones they call the Gerad. It is a piston powered delta wing design that is expendable. Russia began making their own versions of the the drone.
Now the USA is also making copies of the Gerad. This includes the MQM-172 for actual attack use and a version made to provide realistic targets for training.
The USAF had a similar configuration but smaller drone deployed in the late 1980's. It featured a piston engine pusher configuration and folding wings and was designed to be launched by two ground crew from large box. Its purpose was classified but I think it was Bill Gunston who said it likely was designed to home in on Soviet air defense radio data links. When the drones were decommissioned after the fall of the USSR I recall thinking that if they were smart they would store them because they probably would come in handy one day.
Drones of this level of sophistication, based primarily on being low cost, bring to mind the WW2 German V-1. The Buzz Bomb might even be lower cost to produce today than the Gerad and would have higher performance. Of course the V-1 had no ailerons and flew in a rather wobbly manner as a result, but it was a low cost and effective weapon in terms of its purpose. While it would not be stealthy, if you want to light up the enemy's defenses and cause them to expend more expensive interceptor missiles it could do that job.
I wonder where the USAF is headed given all these drones, and we are not even talking about ones that use AI, yet. In the early 1970's there was an effort to retitle the USAF as the US Aerospace Force. Looking at USAF history from the late 1940's until the early 70's, it did have the spirit and vision of an Aerospace Force. It developed missiles and RPVs and was the primary American developer of the our space launch capabilities. But in my 25 year career I saw the Air Force senior leadership seem to focus on becoming the US Army Air Force again. The USAAF did almost nothing with RPVs and missiles, did not operate radar systems probing out beyond Planet Earth and had no interest in using satellites and developing space trasportation capabilities. The USAAF was all about airplanes and pilots and at the Pentagon I learned that was what the generals really wanted to get back to, focusing on airplanes and how they were going to retain as many pilots as possible, even if it required them to take on jobs they were not suited to. Now with drones proliferating and expanding to an incredible degree I wonder what the USAF is going to have left.
Now the USA is also making copies of the Gerad. This includes the MQM-172 for actual attack use and a version made to provide realistic targets for training.
The USAF had a similar configuration but smaller drone deployed in the late 1980's. It featured a piston engine pusher configuration and folding wings and was designed to be launched by two ground crew from large box. Its purpose was classified but I think it was Bill Gunston who said it likely was designed to home in on Soviet air defense radio data links. When the drones were decommissioned after the fall of the USSR I recall thinking that if they were smart they would store them because they probably would come in handy one day.
Drones of this level of sophistication, based primarily on being low cost, bring to mind the WW2 German V-1. The Buzz Bomb might even be lower cost to produce today than the Gerad and would have higher performance. Of course the V-1 had no ailerons and flew in a rather wobbly manner as a result, but it was a low cost and effective weapon in terms of its purpose. While it would not be stealthy, if you want to light up the enemy's defenses and cause them to expend more expensive interceptor missiles it could do that job.
I wonder where the USAF is headed given all these drones, and we are not even talking about ones that use AI, yet. In the early 1970's there was an effort to retitle the USAF as the US Aerospace Force. Looking at USAF history from the late 1940's until the early 70's, it did have the spirit and vision of an Aerospace Force. It developed missiles and RPVs and was the primary American developer of the our space launch capabilities. But in my 25 year career I saw the Air Force senior leadership seem to focus on becoming the US Army Air Force again. The USAAF did almost nothing with RPVs and missiles, did not operate radar systems probing out beyond Planet Earth and had no interest in using satellites and developing space trasportation capabilities. The USAAF was all about airplanes and pilots and at the Pentagon I learned that was what the generals really wanted to get back to, focusing on airplanes and how they were going to retain as many pilots as possible, even if it required them to take on jobs they were not suited to. Now with drones proliferating and expanding to an incredible degree I wonder what the USAF is going to have left.
