Starting Thursday April 24, visitors to the National Air and Space Museum will get a glimpse of six aircraft representing a cross section of modern unmanned flight technology in the new “Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” exhibition. UAVs are used by all four military branches for missions ranging from reconnaissance and surveillance to attack; and each branch is represented in this exhibit: Predator, DarkStar, X-45A (Air Force); Shadow 200 (Army); Dragon Eye (Marine Corps); and Pioneer (Navy). Likewise, a wide variety of technologies are on display: jets, piston-driven props and electric motors for propulsion; and surveillance radars, precision bombs and missiles for combat use.
“The UAVs are positioned over ‘In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight,’ a photographic exhibition of visually intriguing elements of aircraft and spacecraft,” museum director Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey said. “By installing the two displays together, we hope to suggest parallels between technology, culture and the arts.”
The first true UAVs—aerial vehicles capable of returning to a successful recovery after the prescribed mission—were developed in the late 1950s, but America’s military began looking into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles during World War I. Both the Army and Navy built functional unmanned aircraft before the war ended in November 1918. During World War II, unmanned craft had developed to the point where they could be controlled from a remote location by radio signals, usually sent from another aircraft following behind. Modern UAVs are technologically advanced aircraft but would be incomplete without effective command and control, especially trained support personnel, effective mission-related sensors and particular weapons that enable mission accomplishment.
The following UAVs will be featured in the new exhibition:
This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., builder of the Predator UAV.
The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Both facilities are open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (Closed Dec. 25) Admission is free, but there is a $12 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
(Above) The Pioneer UAV system performs a wide variety of reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment missions.
(Below) The X-45A was the first modern unmanned aerial vehicle designed specifically for combat strike missions.
Both are on display in the Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.