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2018 | 4(1) | 1 | 17-21

Article title

Military Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – A Historical Study

Content

Title variants

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
The following study is devoted to the phenomenon of unmanned aerial vehicles used throughout known history on the battlefield or for military purposes. The purpose of the following text is to familiarise the reader with an overview with the contemporary and historical employment of the unmanned vehicles on the battlefield. The study also aims to show that the concept of unmanned combat vehicles, also unmanned aerial combat vehicles, is far more ancient than is it is widely known. The article is based on theoretical research methods, mostly multinational academic literature. The author starts with an introduction on the role of limiting soldiers’ fatalities and the concept of removing military men from the battleground. Then, the author presents known examples of using unmanned ships in battles from Thucydides’ times to the invention of the Hell-burner of Antwerp. Further, the case of first unmanned combat aerial vehicle is presented, the bombing balloons from the nineteenth century, followed by a more contemporary study of the military use of unmanned aircrafts. The article is concluded with an analysis of the present employment of drones when they tend to substitute manned aircrafts on various occasions, especially when a mission is deemed “dull, dirty or dangerous”.

Year

Volume

Issue

1

Pages

17-21

Physical description

Dates

published
2018-06-30

Contributors

  • Faculty of National Security, War Studies University, al. gen. A. Chrusciela „Montera” 103, 00-910 Warszawa-Rembertów, Poland

References

  • Boyne, W. J., The Influence of Air-Power upon History, Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books (2005).
  • Ehrhard, T. P., Air Force UAVs: The secret history., Arlington, VA: Mitchell Institute Press (2010).
  • Foreign News: Bravo!, Retrieved from: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/ 0,9171,853864,00.html (22.02.2018).
  • Freedman, L. D., The Drone Revolution., Foreign Affairs 95 (6).
  • Hardwick, L., In Thucydides: The History of the Peloponnesian War., Ware: Wordsworth Classics of World Literature (1997).
  • Haulman, D. L., U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Combat 1991-2003., retrieved from: URL http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a434033.pdf (21.03.2018)
  • Kamienski, L., Shooting Up: A Short History of Drugs and War, New York: Oxford University Press. (2016).
  • Mortensen, C., LTC. DOD UAV Joint Project Office, an interview (12.09.1990).
  • Motley, J. L., History of The United Netherlands, 1584-1609, Complete. From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year’s Truce, vol. 1, New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers (1860).
  • O’Connell, R. L., Of Arms and Men. A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression, Oxford: Oxford University Press (1989).
  • Scharre, P., Schneider, J., Macdonald, J., Why Drones Are Still the Future of War, retrieved from: URL https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ united-states/2018-02-15/why-drones-are-still-future-war (21.03.2018).
  • Shaw, I. G. R., Scorched Atmospheres: The Violent Geographies of the Vietnam War and the Rise of Drone Warfare., Annals of the American Association of Geographers 106 (3) (2016) 688–704.
  • Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War., Ware: Wordsworth Classics of World Literature (1997).
  • Tice, B. P. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The Force Multiplier of the 1990s., retrieved from: URL https://web.archive.org/web/20090724015052/ http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/ apj/apj91/spr91/4spr91.htm (21.03.2017).

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

ISSN
2450-551X

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.desklight-3d63716f-7933-4e30-8ff5-d6468d0d971b
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