Sneed Collard - Technology Forces. Drones and War Machines

Content Area Vocabulary:

Read the list. What do these words mean?

accuracy

aircraft

civilians

crew

drone

explosive

missile

navigation

spying

terrorist

Before reading a book, it is important to tap into what your child or students already know about the topic. This will help them develop their vocabulary, increase their reading comprehension, and make connections across the curriculum.

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PHOTO CREDITS: Cover photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson, sky Alexey Repka, radar argus; Title Page flag SFerdon; Pages 4/5 drone U.S. Army photo, map pavalena, Bin Laden FBI photo; Pages 6/7 main photo courtesy of DARPA, RQ-170 photo Truthdowser; Page 8 German Federal Archive; Page 9 Ben_pcc; Pages 10/11 US Defense Imagery, TSGT FRANK GARZELNICK, US Air Force; Pages 12/13 photos by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson, Technical Sergeant Ben Blocker, US Air Force; Page 14 map ildogesto; Page 15 top photo Bukvoed, bottom photo aick; Pages 16 courtesy NASA; Page 17 courtesy U.S. Air Force; Pages 18-21 US Air Force; Pages 22-24 U.S. Navy photos; Page 25 courtesy of Customs and Border Protection photographer Gerald L. Nino; Pages 26/27 main photo PJF, inset photo U.S. Navy/Northrop Grumman/Kelly Schindler; Pages 28-29 Wright Brothers photo John T. Daniels, other photos courtesy of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy

Edited by Precious McKenzie

Designed and Produced by Blue Door Publishing, FL

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

U.S. Technology Forces: Drones and War Machines / Sneed B. Collard III

p. cm. -- (Freedom Forces)

ISBN 978-1-62169-929-3 (hard cover) (alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-62169-824-1 (soft cover)

ISBN 978-1-62717-033-8 (e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013938881

Rourke Educational Media

Printed in the United States of America,

North Mankato, Minnesota

rourkeeducationalmedia.com

PO Box 643328 Vero Beach, Florida 32964

CHAPTER ONE

SILENT OBSERVERS

On May 1, 2012, U.S. Special Forces swarmed into a three-story compound in northeast Pakistan. Inside the compound lived the worlds most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. In 2001, Bin Laden had masterminded the devastating 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and New York Citys World Trade Center. For more than a decade, the United States had hunted Bin Laden. Now, finally, the Central Intelligence Agency had located the terrorist. As American soldiers closed in, a powerful new weapon flew silently in the skies above, an aircraft called a drone.

The U.S. Armys MQ-1C Gray Eagle became operational in 2009, and can carry weapons or equipment to disrupt enemy communications.

Drones go by many names, including unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft. Basically, they are aircraft that do not have pilots sitting in them. The drone involved in the attack on Osama Bin Laden was an RQ-170 Sentinel. In the months before the attack, the RQ-170 spied on the terrorists compound, recording movements in and out of it. The night of May 1, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama probably watched the attack live through an RQ-170 camera. The images made one thing clear: unmanned aircraft are changing the very nature of warfare.

The Navys X-47B illustrates stealth technology in drones. The planes materials and wing design deflect and absorb radar signals, making the drone almost impossible to detect.

The RQ-170 Sentinel, used to plan and execute the attack on Osama Bin Laden, came equipped with advanced cameras and stealth technology that made it difficult for enemy radar to detect.

CHAPTER TWO

UNMANNED HISTORY

Ever since the Wright Brothers flew the first successful airplane, people have tinkered with creating unmanned aircraft. During World War I and II, several nations designed unmanned airplanes. The most famous of these was Germanys V-1 flying bomb during World War II. This primitive aircraft carried a single, 1900-pound (861 kilogram) explosive. Simple navigation instruments kept it flying toward its target. Once a counter estimated it had traveled the right distance, the V-1 would simply plunge to earth and explode.

Germany launched about 19,000 V-1s at England and other targets during World War II. Most crashed, were shot down, or missed their targets. Even so, they killed or injured more than 20,000 people in England alone.

The V-1 flying bomb was known as the Cherry Stone during its initial development. Later on, it was called the buzz bomb or doodlebug because of the sound that it made.

During the next several decades, many countries developed more advanced drones. The United States built radio-controlled drones as decoys, training targets, and spy planes. During the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force sent more than 3,400 drones to spy on North Vietnam and surrounding areas. These drones were launched from other aircraft, or used a