If there is an invention or discovery that startles the world today, then it should be the discovery of heavy than air crafts and yet if an object is tossed unto the air it will not stay afloat for a second as the pull of gravity is forcibly pulling it down to the ground or the centre of the earth.Trying to figure out how those heavy jets are maintained afloat for many hours amazes people within and without aviation matters and the flight field. This paper will entirely take a look at the history of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles and Uninhabited Combat Vehicles. It will also focus on other issues like the intentions or reasons behind the decision to manufacture these kinds of aircrafts, views of people about the development of these Unmanned or Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles.
Last but not least the paper will studiously establish their future use in particular in the Asia-pacific region. The uses will concentrate on the military and warfare future developments.History of the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles.According to (Glade 2000), Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable and can carry lethal or non-lethal payload”. People started thinking about flight many centuries and or years back some even before the Wright brothers from Ohio.
They tried and tried but at the end of the day they came out successfully. Since then there has been tremendous advancements in aviation right from balloons to passenger aircrafts and rockets. All these advancements are attributed to man’s quest to conquer the skies and the curiosity of adventure.Like any other science evolutions, there have been drastic evolutions in the aviation industry.
When the first passenger aero plane was manufactured and became functional then engineers were put to task to manufacture high performance aircrafts both for civilian and military. Many a variety of military aircrafts were used in the Second World War.During this devastating and bloody conflict many lives were lost. Among the people who were at higher risk of getting killed were aircraft engineers and pilots who were responsible for designing and piloting them.
Late 1930s and early 1940s drones were used in the war and the idea of manufacturing unmanned aircrafts propped up to stop loosing good engineers and pilots. But still the quest for man to adventure was ingrained in men who thought of coming up with a variety of aircrafts. This is the time when the manufactured drones.Drones were the first aircrafts that were unmanned. “These aircrafts evolved during world war two, as guidance technology reached sophistication level wherein large aircrafts could be flown by remote control.Target drones were intended to be used to train fighter pilots or Surface to Air Missiles operators by giving them a full size target to shoot at.
Because such aircrafts could both takeoff or liftoff and land easily by remote control, it occurred to the operators that they could be retrofitted with surveillance gear and be used as reconnaissance platforms. This evolved into the first generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs)”.Historically, UAVs have been employed as intelligence assets monitored and controlled from the ground and also finders and they relied on human as pilots. In future scenarios the UAVs are expected to have a high level of autonomy and preferably work in groups hence researches have been conducted to put together and develop control algorithms (Kinney, Hill & Moore 2004 and Ryan, Bailey, Moore & Calton 1999)Since this time the aviation industry has been evolving. National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) which was commissioned in 1958 started its projects and some of the projects or tasks were to manufacture aircrafts to be used in space explorations.
There first such vehicle was unmanned but controlled by a remote controller. NASA’s Endeavour was to use these unmanned aircrafts for scientific experiments and projects which included weather forecasts and scouring the space before man could attempt going there. All these have been successfully accomplished.NASAs intention was to use the unmanned or uninhabited Aerial Vehicles for the safety of her scientists. They currently use these machines for sending food and equipments to the crew members in the space station.Role of the UAVs and the UACVs.
Unmanned or uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) generalizes all unmanned aircrafts but Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles are specifically used in armed conflicts. Since drones were used in the Second War, there have been great innovations that have taken place. In the armed conflicts like in Afghanistan and Iraq these vehicles have been used.They were used in spying and they were able to collect data which was later analyzed and used during the invasion. These Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles were able to reach enemy positions where man and manned aircrafts could not reach.Although these unmanned or Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles are very accurate in precision their operators should be highly skilled and all the standards and procedures followed or adhered just like any other manned space crafts.
Their role is very important in today’s world of unending conflicts and these vehicles have the capacity to be used as joint force commanders. They may be controlled from a central control centre and perform operations like manned aircrafts or war planes. (Glade 2000)In the Asia-pacific these vehicles are used in surveillance. These regions are widely covered by water and the many islands that are in these regions are densely forested and therefore the use of Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles is extremely necessary. In some parts where groups of guerilla fighters are operating, manned aircrafts cannot be flown there to risk their lives but unmanned are used.
Due to weather patterns in this region, Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles are fit to use here whereby they are even assisting in getting or finding information on the flight characteristics of airplanes that use those routes.The equipments mounted on them are able to collect data that is used by aircraft manufacturing companies to have aircrafts according to the specifications of the routes. The Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles are handy because of the weather conditions in this region of the world because the larger part is covered by water.Future of Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles (UACV).Every passing year there are greater advancements in conjunction with the Uninhabited Aerial Combat Vehicles.
Due to the accelerated growth of computer technologies the advancement and growth of the uninhabited Aerial combat vehicles is stupendous.Many aviation and engineering companies will also enrich themselves through the contracts they will acquire from firms that have interests in manufacturing these vehicles. The future of these vehicles must also be handled with care such that they are not developed and used by wrong people and rogue regimes in the world.This means already the companies identified to manufacture the like NASA and Aircraft manufacturing companies like Boeing and Airbus are the only ones that will be given the right to manufacture and develop them. However, other companies may be given to manufacture spare parts but not assembly them.
If the future of these unmanned or uninhabited Aerial Combat vehicles is not kept in check, there is a danger that they may be used to destroy mankind through warfare and mass killings by terrorists. But the fantastic news is that man will design and assign mission for these Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles but the in-flight operations, targets to land and or strike will be controlled and handled by on board intelligence software (Munson 1988).This is where analogue computers will be required and hence promote computer sales.
