Unmanned military aircraft (Kettering Bug and Queen Bee)
Avión no tripulado militar (Kettering Bug y Queen Bee)
- Date
- 1916-1935 (Kettering Bug, 1918) · confidence medium
- Place
- Dayton, Ohio, United States
- Credited to
- Charles Kettering and Elmer Sperry (USA); De Havilland (UK)
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A pilotless aircraft with a gyroscopic autopilot and a preset range, designed in 1917-1918 as an 'aerial torpedo'. Although never used in combat, it paved the way for radio-controlled target aircraft such as the DH.82 Queen Bee, whose name gave rise to 'drone'.
The Hewitt-Sperry prototype (1916-1917) and the Ruston Proctor Aerial Target (1916-1917) compete for the title of first unmanned aircraft; the origin of 'drone' from the 1935 Queen Bee is a common attribution but not the only one.
What it led to
- aerial targets and radio-controlled aircraft
- cruise missiles
- military reconnaissance and attack drones