target drone

{{Short description|Unmanned aircraft used for target practice}}

File:Teledyne-Ryan-Firebee-hatzerim-1.jpg jet-propelled drone, used as a target drone]]

A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews.{{cite web|url=http://www.avonds.com/Target%20Drones.htm |title=Avonds Scale Jets - Target Drones |publisher=Avonds.com |access-date=2011-10-22}}

One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational from 1935. Its name led to the present term "drone".{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

In their simplest form, target drones often resemble radio-controlled model aircraft. More modern drones may use countermeasures, radar, and similar systems to mimic manned aircraft.{{cite web|url=http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav_02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060418032459/http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav_02.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 18, 2006 |title=Target Drones |publisher=Vector Site |access-date=2011-10-22}}

More advanced drones are made from large, older missiles which have had their warheads removed.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

In the United Kingdom, obsolete Royal Air Force and Royal Navy jet and propeller-powered aircraft (such as the Fairey Firefly, Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Sea Vixen used at RAE Llanbedr between the 1950s and 1990s) have also been modified into remote-controlled drones, but such modifications are costly. With a much larger budget, the U.S. military has been more likely to convert retired aircraft or older versions of still serving aircraft (e.g., QF-4 Phantom II and QF-16 Fighting Falcon) into remotely piloted targets for US Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps use as Full-Scale Aerial Targets.{{cite web|url=https://learndrone.tech/the-final-mission-the-usafs-qf-4-target-drones/|title=QF-4 Target Drone|website=learndrone.tech|access-date=2020-01-30|archive-date=2020-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130160340/https://learndrone.tech/the-final-mission-the-usafs-qf-4-target-drones/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article29.html|title=F-16 Versions - QF-16|website=www.f-16.net}}

File: Winston Churchill and the Secretary of State for War waiting to see the launch of a de Havilland Queen Bee radio-controlled target drone, 6 June 1941. H10307.jpg