Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV): an overview

The allied operations during the Persian Gulf War, in Bosnia and more recently in Kosovo, pointed out that the introduction of advanced technology enables successful military missions, while ensuring nearly zero casualties and only very limited collateral damage. One of the most important principles of warfare is that it is crucial to gather information from the enemy: what are his strong points and what are his weaknesses. Progresses in sensor, in control and in navigation technologies offer completely new opportunities. Some of the possibilities, that are feasible nowadays, would have been qualified, some years ago, as science fiction, without any chance of realization. This paper deals with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), which are the flying carriers of these advanced sensors. At the time being these platforms are only operated by the military. However, UAVs have also a very important civil potential. In what follows an overview is given on the different families of unmanned aircraft.