10 October 2024

Perhaps the first military operation deploying UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) occurred in 1849, with Austria launching 200 incendiary balloons toward Venice.

It wasn't exactly a success.

Dependent on the whims of the wind, only one balloon reached its target. The rest were blown off course. (We're not sure where those 199 balloons ended up— although it was reported some returned to the Austrian lines. Not optimum.)

Almost 100 years later, the United States Navy and Army Air Force sought to develop more "reliable" unmanned crafts—at least in the sense that the UAVs would actually reach their targets. (The Austrian debacle was not lost on 20th Century technologists.)

LIFE magazine ran a story in its October 15, 1945 issue that the U.S. military had been experimenting with "robot planes" for 20 years. As per the publication's format, the article was mostly based on photo journalism, but the text offered this background: "The robot plane is flown by a man on the ground or by a pilot on another plane which accompanies it in flight. The remote-control operator holds a radio control box, moves the pencil-like stick to transmit signals over a frequency-modulated wave to a radio receiver in the plane. These signals activate a servo unit, nicknamed 'the muscle,' which transforms electrical impressions into mechanical action and moves the airplane’s controls."

At the time, the operator needed to be within four miles of the robot plane. Today's drones can be operated from a control center that's hundreds of miles away.

But those first initial experiments did bear fruit. Drones are now essential components of modern warfare, and the U.S. Department of Defense reports its current combat drone fleet numbers more than 11,000. 

It's amusing, ironic, and sad the LIFE article concluded that "the future" could hold an "awesome peacetime" application for unmanned, radio-controlled aircraft.

That became true, of course. Drones are used to make movies, clean windows, survey caves and other structures, aid realtors selling homes, provide children and adult enthusiasts with hours of fun and discovery, and much more.

On the other hand, the devastation wrought by military drones in Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East are constant reminders of their destructive power when used in battle.