Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) or Drones were first built almost 110 years ago. Quite surprising, right? Though Drones are now used for a wide range of applications, the sole purpose of building a Drone was for the Military.
The motive of military forces worldwide was to destroy maximum enemies but sacrifice a minimum. This was the core reason why defence technologies such as UAVs evolved. Drones can be operated remotely even in the most dangerous zones, since they are unmanned and it expels the possibility of losing soldiers in the danger terrains.
However, unlike the drones used in agriculture, construction or for recreation, drones in the military are quite different. They need to have much higher precision and accuracy, for which advanced algorithms and powerful sensors are used that can detect the surroundings and execute the task precisely, hence making them even more expensive. Unlike other drones that use the pre-built flight control solutions, drones in the military need custom-built solutions designed by those with extensive experience in this field.
Although drones are recently being used for agriculture, transport, construction industries and even for recreation purposes, initially they were solely built to serve the military. The military has been using drones for decades. These drones have been used to spy on enemies, deliver supplies, carry combat cargo, hyperspectral scanning, reconnaissance and many more. However, we shall now focus on some of the important uses of drones in the military and how it has revolutionised military operations over the years.
Drones in the military have been revolutionised in a way, in which defense strategies are planned and executed. Its success can be reflected by the fact that defense forces worldwide make use of these UAVs for supervision, combat mission, and target decoys. In the next decade, there is a likelihood of over eighty thousand drones being purchased for surveillance and over two thousand for launching attacks.
Sometimes the defense strategy requires using drones as target decoys to mislead its opponents and launch an attack from another direction. Previously, deploying target decoys was extremely threatening because it required at least one soldier to be inside the aircraft to control it, hence risking his life. However, by using the right technology, defense forces can now remotely operate drones in the military, without necessarily risking the lives of its soldiers.
In recent times, combat drones in the military have helped save lives and aid in several missions. The payload and precision of a combat drone plays a critical role in the performance of a combat mission. Currently, Predator C Avenger, Heron TP, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian are the most popular combat drones, designed with necessary hardware capabilities.
The defence sector needs to continuously monitor and assess the movements of its enemies. There are several ways in which this technology can be used to assess and analyse the enemy’s movements. By using a drone with a powerful camera attached to it, one can easily spy on the enemy’s forces. It can also be used to figure out the exact location of the soldiers and build communication with them. However, since these are operated remotely, there needs to be a powerful flight control mechanism that is adequate to keep it away from being noticed. Technology plays an important role in managing UAVs which are operated remotely in different terrains and under various climatic conditions. This is why it becomes critical to use a compatible flight control mechanism with the best navigational solutions. With technologies such as Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) it is now possible to achieve centimetre-level precision. By leveraging the power of expert technologies, Defense sectors can minimize their overall weapon costs as well as the loss of human life.
It is difficult to believe that the concept of building drones was solely for wars. But over the years, with the increase of technologies, Drones are now widely considered as a vital tool in many fields, ranging from law enforcement and environmental management all the way to recreational use by average consumers.