The use of unmanned surveillance planes over Iraq has soared, revolutionizing the way U.S. troops wage war and crowding the skies above Iraq.
The bad guys can use drones too. While billions have been spent on ballistic missile defense, little attention has been given to the more imminent threat posed by unmanned air vehicles in the hands of terrorists or rogue states.
Despite protests from other countries, the United States is expanding a top-secret effort to kill suspected terrorists with drone-fired missiles as it pursues an increasingly decentralized Al Qaeda, U.S. officials say.
Unmanned military aircraft have knocked out enemy targets and collected intelligence in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but are plagued with problems that delay information from getting to commanders for hours or days, according to congressional investigators.
Loren Thompson argues that the real threat to U.S. spy satellites is not from enemy anti-satellite weapons or jamming devices but from irrelevance due to the increasing reconnaissance capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles.
An overview of the U.S. military efforts to create a networked robotic army of land-based drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The recent revelation that the U.S. was using UAVs to spy on Iranian nuclear facilities has sparked "flying object" fever in the Iranian media and provoked an angry reaction from Iranian defense officials.
The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the secret effort.
Newly released military video reveals unmanned U.S. Predators firing Hellfire missiles to rescue U.S. troops under fire in Iraq and destroy insurgent targets.
In the debate over the top-secret stealth spy satellite program, opponents are calling into question the utility of spy satellites by pointing to the growing capabilities of UAVs as surveillance platforms.