Drones and autonomous systems: the next frontier

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  • An Air Force MQ-1B Predator from the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron takes off from Ali Base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft capable of conducting armed reconnaissance. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder)
  • The 163rd Reconnaissance Wing MQ-1 Predator is shown during post flight inspection at dusk from Southern California Logistics Airport (formerly George Air Force Base) in Victorville, Calif., Jan. 7, 2012.
  • A U.S. Airman assigned to the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron directs a MQ-9 Reaper aircraft at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2015. The 62nd ERS operates the MQ-1B Predator and Reaper aircraft and provides world-class close air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph Swafford/Released)
  • An MQ-9 Reaper prepares to take off at Hurlburt Field, Fla., May 3, 2014.The MQ-9 Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.(U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. John Bainter)
  • An RQ-4 Global Hawk soars through the sky to record intelligence, surveillence and reconnaissance data. Air Force and Navy officials met to discuss joint training with the RQ-4. (Courtesy photo)
  • An RQ-4 Global Hawk like the one pictured is being used to assist Japan in disaster relief and recovery efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson)
  • Spc. Devin Pisani, an Unmanned Aerial System Maintainer, with Delta Company, 25th Aviation inspects the airframe of an MQ-1C Gray Eagle before take-off April 12, 2016 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska’s Ladd Army Airfield. The Gray Eagle is the most recent edition to U.S. Army Alaska Aviation Task Force and provides USARAK commanders real-world combat assets for training in Alaska. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Brady)
  • Soldiers from Company E, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade perform pre-flight checks on the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system before the Mass Fire Mission on Fort Stewart March 1. For the first time ever, Division Artillery teamed with the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system which was utilized for a wide range of purposes including target identification, observing the rounds as they are fired, and assessing battle damage. (Photo by Sgt. William Begley, 3rd CAB Public Affairs)
  • 160407-N-PO203-577 PORTLAND, Oregon (Apr. 7, 2016) Sea Hunter, an entirely new class of unmanned ocean-going vessel gets underway on the Williammette River following a christening ceremony in Portland, Oregon. Part the of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program, in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), is working to fully test the capabilities of the vessel and several innovative payloads, with the goal of transitioning the technology to Navy operational use once fully proven. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)
  • Octavia, a mobile, dexterous, social (MDS) robot, puts out a fire in the prototyping high bay of the just-opened Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The LASR facility will integrate science and technology components into research prototype systems and will become the nerve center for basic research that supports autonomous systems research for the Navy and Marine Corps. The prototyping high bay can be used for small autonomous air and ground vehicles, and the people who work with them.
  • Members of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program used the 102nd Intelligence Wing’s hangar to test small UAVs in an indoor, controlled environment.
  • A QF-4 Drone in flight as it is tracked by a missile at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The drones are used as moving targets to test weapons. (Courtesy photo)