At the end of World War II, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks were initiated by the numerous combatant countries in different ways. Drones were used for internal surveillance.
The first unmanned aircraft, which was utilized by the US Army to carry out the surveillance mission, is known as SD-1. It was the aircraft, which was deployed to train anti-aircraft gunners. The SD-1 is also known by its other name, which is MQM-57 Falconer.
 Photo Source: Wikipedia- Fig: SD-1 aka MQM-57
As we know, necessity is the key to invention. During the surveillance tasks in 1960, an American aircraft was shot down by the Soviet Union through a missile. And the country lost its pilot. This incident directed the attention of defense personnel toward the drone to carry out surveillance. As per the army demand, Ryan Engineers promised to modify the pre-existing drone, which was Firebee, into a long-range unmanned machine. After the modification of Ryan Models, it was deployed by the US Army in numerous missions.
Photo Source: Wikipedia- TU-123 aka DBR-1
Along with the US, Soviet engineers were putting their efforts into producing drones with amazing capabilities. Consequently, they started surveillance tasks- with an upgraded drone, known as Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb, aka DBR-1. Tupolev Tu-123 falls under the categories of long-range and high-altitude unmanned aircraft.
Article Written by Mr. Abul Kalam Khan.
