Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II

Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II
Author: H. R. Everett
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 767
Release: 2015-11-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0262331764

The first comprehensive technical history of air, land, sea, and underwater unmanned systems, by a distinguished U.S. Navy roboticist. Military drones have recently been hailed as a revolutionary new technology that will forever change the conduct of war. And yet the United States and other countries have been deploying such unmanned military systems for more than a century. Written by a renowned authority in the field, this book documents the forgotten legacy of these pioneering efforts, offering the first comprehensive historical and technical accounting of unmanned air, land, sea, and underwater systems. Focusing on examples introduced during the two world wars, H. R. Everett meticulously traces their development from the mid-nineteenth century to the early Cold War. A pioneering Navy roboticist, Everett not only describes these systems in detail but also reverse-engineers the designs in order to explain how they operated in real-world conditions of the time. More than 500 illustrations—photographs, drawings, and plans, many of them never before published—accompany the text. Everett covers the evolution of early wire-guided submersibles, tracing the development of power, propulsion, communication, and control; radio-controlled surface craft, deployed by both Germany and Great Britain in World War I; radio-controlled submersibles; radio-controlled aircraft, including the TDR-1 assault drone project in World War II—which laid the groundwork for subsequent highly classified drone programs; and remote-controlled ground vehicles, including the Wehrmacht's Goliath and Borgward demolition carriers.

Unmanned

Unmanned
Author: Ann Rogers
Publisher: Between the Lines(CA)
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2014
Genre: Drone aircraft
ISBN: 9781771131537

Drones have become the controversial new weapon of choice for the US military abroad. Unmanneddetails the causes and deadly consequences of this terrifying new development in warfare, and explores the implications for international law and global peace. Ann Rogers and John Hill argue that drones represent the first truly globalized technology of war. The book shows how unmanned systems are changing not simply how wars are fought, but the meaning of conflict itself. Providing an unparalleled account of new forms of twenty-first century imperial warfare, Unmannedshows how drone systems dissolve the conventional obstacles of time and space that have traditionally shaped conflict in the international system. It considers the possibility that these weapons will become normalized in global conflict, raising the spectre of new, unpredictable, and unaccountable forms of warfare.

One Nation Under Drones

One Nation Under Drones
Author: John E Jackson
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2018-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 168247240X

One Nation Under Drones is an interesting and informative review of how robotic and unmanned systems are impacting every aspect of American life, from how we fight our wars; to how we play; to how we grow our food. Edited by Professor John Jackson, who holds the E.A. Sperry Chair of Unmanned and Robotic Systems at the United States Naval War College, this highly readable book features chapters from a dozen experts, researchers, and operators of the sophisticated systems that have become ubiquitous across the nation and around the world. Press reports have focused primarily on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, officially designated as UAVs, but more often referred to as "drones". This book takes you behind the scenes and describes how Predators, Reapers, Scan Eagles and dozens of other pilotless aircraft have been used to fight the Global War on Terrorism. Although these systems seemed to emerge fully-developed into the skies above America's distant battlefields following the attacks of 9-11-2001, readers will discover how they actually trace their lineage to the First World War, when the "automatic airplane/aerial torpedo", designed and built by the Sperry Gyroscope Company, made its first flight just over a century ago. Unmanned aircraft were used by various combatants in World War II, and took many forms: from converted manned bombers to inter-continental attacks on the American homeland by rice-paper balloons. Technology developed in the latter decades of the 20th century enabled crews stationed thousands of miles away to attack targets on remote battlefields. Such long-range and remote-controlled weapons have been extensively used, but are controversial from both legal and ethical stand-points. Chapters written by international law specialists and drone pilots with advanced education in ethics address these issues from both sides of the argument. The book also details how robotic systems are being used on land, in and below the seas, and in civilian applications such as driverless cars. Three dozen photographs display drones as small as an insect up to those as large as a 737 airliner. One Nation Under Drones covers such a wide array of topics that it will be of interest to everyone from the casual reader seeking to know more about these systems, to national security professionals, both in and out of uniform, who will be making decisions about their procurement and use in decades to come. This work will become the definitive volume on the subject, providing the facts and avoiding the hype about systems that have moved off the pages of science fiction and into the environment all around us.

The Drone Wars

The Drone Wars
Author: Seth J. Frantzman
Publisher: Bombardier Books
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1642936766

In the battle for the streets of Mosul in Iraq, drones in the hands of ISIS terrorists made life hell for the Iraq army and civilians. Today, defense companies are racing to develop the lasers, microwave weapons, and technology necessary for confronting the next drone threat. Seth J. Frantzman takes the reader from the midnight exercises with Israel’s elite drone warriors, to the CIA headquarters where new drone technology was once adopted in the 1990s to hunt Osama bin Laden. This rapidly expanding technology could be used to target nuclear power plants and pose a threat to civilian airports. In the Middle East, the US used a drone to kill Iranian arch-terrorist Qasem Soleimani, a key Iranian commander. Drones are transforming the battlefield from Syria to Libya and Yemen. For militaries and security agencies—the main users of expensive drones—the UAV market is expanding as well; there were more than 20,000 military drones in use by 2020. Once the province of only a few militaries, drones now being built in Turkey, China, Russia, and smaller countries like Taiwan may be joining the military drone market. It’s big business, too—$100 billion will be spent over the next decade on drones. Militaries may soon be spending more on drones than tanks, much as navies transitioned away from giant vulnerable battleships to more agile ships. The future wars will be fought with drones and won by whoever has the most sophisticated technology.

American Guided Missiles of World War II

American Guided Missiles of World War II
Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2020-06-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472839242

World War II was a significant period of development for American missile programs, during which time the US built pioneering examples of guided weapons systems. However, whilst the German missiles of World War II are famous around the world, their American counterparts have remained shrouded in secrecy, despite the fact that they formed the basis for the later revolutions in precision warfare. Among the most sophisticated missiles of World War II was the US Navy's radar-guided Bat anti-ship missile, which was on the verge of deployment in the final months of the war. The war also saw the first use of guided assault drones, including the US Army Air Force's Aphrodite program of 1944, and the US Navy's Project Anvil and TDR-1. This book draws back the veil on these weapons, examining the principal avenues of missile development in America during World War II, including the early glide bombs, radio-controlled bombs and electro-optically controlled bombs. Some of the more peculiar efforts, such as the “Bat bomb” and pigeon-guided bombs, are also explored. The text is supported by specially commissioned, full-colour artwork and diagrams.

Civilian Drones, Visual Privacy and EU Human Rights Law

Civilian Drones, Visual Privacy and EU Human Rights Law
Author: Girish Agarwal
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2022-07-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000625532

This book examines rights issues in relation to visual privacy in the use of civilian drones. Here, visual privacy is described as the freedom from a combination of unwanted activities directed towards an individual, such as observing, recording, and publishing of personal visual information without an individual’s consent. The book answers the question of whether visual observation of an individual with the help of the camera systems onboard a civilian drone is lawful in light of EU law. It also discusses the legality of the subsequent recordings and publications. The issues are considered in terms of the European Convention of Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union and EU General Data Protection Regulation. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of technology, privacy and human rights law.

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
Author: Paul Scharre
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2018-04-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393608999

Winner of the 2019 William E. Colby Award "The book I had been waiting for. I can't recommend it highly enough." —Bill Gates The era of autonomous weapons has arrived. Today around the globe, at least thirty nations have weapons that can search for and destroy enemy targets all on their own. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in next-generation warfare, describes these and other high tech weapons systems—from Israel’s Harpy drone to the American submarine-hunting robot ship Sea Hunter—and examines the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. “A smart primer to what’s to come in warfare” (Bruce Schneier), Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to explore the implications of giving weapons the freedom to make life and death decisions. A former soldier himself, Scharre argues that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but when the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.

Unmanned Combat Air Systems

Unmanned Combat Air Systems
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Uninhabited combat aerial vehicles
ISBN: 9781591142850

The U.S. Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System aircraft currently in development will transform naval aviation, extending its reach while dramatically reducing its cost, according to naval weapons expert Norman Friedman. In this his latest weapons book, he describes the new X-47B and shows how these new aircraft offer tactics that manned aircraft cannot duplicate. He calls the X-47B a natural extension of the evolving networked form of drone warfare that can be used for a variety of missions, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and time sensitive targeting. Friedman makes the important point that an unmanned attack aircraft can also be seen as an extension of some current missiles that interact with remote human controllers. The book includes an extensive appendix describing the world's military unmanned aircraft.

Technical Innovation in American History [3 volumes]

Technical Innovation in American History [3 volumes]
Author: Rosanne Welch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 1489
Release: 2019-02-22
Genre: History
ISBN:

From the invention of eyeglasses to the Internet, this three-volume set examines the pivotal effects of inventions on society, providing a fascinating history of technology and innovations in the United States from the earliest European colonization to the present. Technical Innovation in American History surveys the history of technology, documenting the chronological and thematic connections between specific inventions, technological systems, individuals, and events that have contributed to the history of science and technology in the United States. Covering eras from colonial times to the present day in three chronological volumes, the entries include innovations in fields such as architecture, civil engineering, transportation, energy, mining and oil industries, chemical industries, electronics, computer and information technology, communications (television, radio, and print), agriculture and food technology, and military technology. The A–Z entries address key individuals, events, organizations, and legislation related to themes such as industry, consumer and medical technology, military technology, computer technology, and space science, among others, enabling readers to understand how specific inventions, technological systems, individuals, and events influenced the history, cultural development, and even self-identity of the United States and its people. The information also spotlights how American culture, the U.S. government, and American society have specifically influenced technological development.