There have been many issues with the use of manned aircrafts
throughout history due to the potential danger that the pilots flying these
planes are exposed to. During the Cold War period, a CIA pilot was captured
when his plane was shot down while he was flying over Soviet airspace. The
Soviets had been previously unaware of any U.S. aircrafts in the area, and this
revelation further increased tensions.[1] However,
as technology continues to advance, the potential uses of technology in warfare
continue to grow as well. One particularly beneficial technological advance was
the invention of unmanned aerial vehicles. These planes increase the safety of
troops, by completely removing them from the area. In recent years, several
types of UAVs have been created to serve different purposes during both wartime
and peace.
Terminology:
Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle (UAV) – an aircraft with no pilot onboard.[2]
Types of UAVs[3]
–
- Target and decoy - providing ground and aerial gunnery a target that simulates an enemy aircraft or missile
- Reconnaissance - providing battlefield intelligence
- Combat - providing attack capability for high-risk missions
- Research and development - used to further develop UAV technologies to be integrated into field deployed UAV aircraft
- Civil and Commercial UAVs - UAVs specifically designed for civil and commercial applications.
Relation to Computer Science:
This topic relates to computer science because of how these
aircrafts are created. In order to increase the distance from which these
planes can be controlled and the speed at which they can respond to and execute
commands. Currently, the hardware for these planes is being created and
developed much more quickly than the programming for the autonomy of the
hardware can be written. Several countries are spending large amounts of money
to try and speed up the autonomy process, but the hardware industry for UAVs is
still much more developed.
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