Unmanned combat aerial vehicle
A combat drone, also called attack drone, strike drone or unmanned combat aerial vehicle is designed for military use. Sometimes it is just called a drone. It usually carries cameras and other instruments to gather information about the battlefield, and radios to communicate its information. It may also carry a bomb or other weapon, or none.
Different drones
- The switchblade drone, a small drone that can be launched from a hand-held tube. It has a high-resolution camera. It can be used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
- Kamikaze drone or loitering munition. [1]
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle Media
A British MQ-9A Reaper operating over Afghanistan in 2009 equipped with two GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bombs and four AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles.
A Turkish Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned fighter, the world's first UCAV that destroyed an aerial target using a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
1972: Ryan Firebee with 2 Maverick missiles
During the Russo-Ukrainian war, use of Russian drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) increased about tenfold from early 2024 through summer 2025.
UCAVs at 2025 China Victory Day Parade
An IAF Hermes 450 from 200 Squadron
A TAI Anka-3 (center) performing manned-unmanned teaming with manned aircraft TAI Hürjet (left) and a TAI Hürkuş (right) in 2024
A X-47B UCAV technology demonstrator
A Turkish made Azerbaijani Baykar Bayraktar Akıncı over the runway
The BAE Taranis model is one of the larger designs
,_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
