Many terms are used for aircraft which fly without any persons on board.
The term drone has been used from the early days of aviation, some being applied to remotely flown target aircraft used for practice firing of a … See more

Early drones
The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849, with a balloon carrier (the precursor to the See more

UAV computing capability followed the advances of computing technology, beginning with analog controls and evolving into microcontrollers, then system-on-a-chip See more

In recent years, autonomous drones have begun to transform various application areas as they can fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) while … See more

UAVs may be classified like any other aircraft, according to design configuration such as weight or engine type, maximum flight altitude, … See more

Crewed and uncrewed aircraft of the same type generally have recognizably similar physical components. The main exceptions are the cockpit and environmental … See more

Flight envelope
UAVs can be programmed to perform aggressive maneuvers or landing/perching on inclined surfaces, … See more