Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. When the Wright brothers achieved powered heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903 with their aptly named Wright Flyer, it didn't take long for the military to realize the destructive potential of this technology. Since then aeronautics has been one of the fastest advancing branches of science in history. Though mostly still in development phase, the last generation of military aircraft may, in fact, be the last. The rapid advances in technology over the last two decades have allowed the unmanned areal vehicles to take on increasing number of military roles such as surveillance, reconnaissance, strike missions, electronic attack, suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses and communications relay at a fraction of the operational costs a piloted aircraft would require. Learn more about the many different types of unmanned areal vehicles, their applications and characteristics in this book.