ABSTRACT
Unmanned aerial systems are new for civil aviation; they are nothing new to the military aficionado or warrior who in some form or another has been around drones for quite a while. Only recently has a focus on unmanned aircraft been an accepted part of the military culture, where pilots were pilots, not sitting in a chair thousands of miles from the action. The greatest contributor in the United States (US), and perhaps the world, to the continued development of the Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (UAV) has been the US intelligence community — specifically the National Reconnaissance Office and the Central Intelligence Agency. Though funded by clandestine organizations, the Air Force was responsible for partial funding and complete operation of each UAV developed during 1960 and 2000. In November, 1977 — after a 2-year hiatus of the F-15 RPRV program — flights resumed under a new program called the Spin Research Vehicle project.
