They have been flying since the 1960s, shown sizes ranging from the sparrow to the combat plane and the armies can no longer do without it. Military drones are omnipresent on the battlefield.
The word drone, of Anglo -Saxon origin, means “buzzing” or “buzzing”, thus referring to the noise that their devices controlled at a distance when they are in the air.
From Nanodrono to fighting drones, a general description of the main types of flying vehicles piloted at a distance, covering numerous operations, from monitoring to maneuvers on the battlefield.
- Nanodrones, discreet to find out
By measuring about fifteen centimeters in length for a weight of a few tens of grams, nanodrones are mainly used for recognition and intelligence missions. In this segment, France has markedly Black Hornet drones, produced by American flir.
- Microdrones, from civil to the military
Of a slightly higher size and weight, microdronas are also used for observation missions, for which they are equipped with specific equipment (cameras or intermediaries). They can also carry and leave loads as explosives. The sector’s truck is the Chinese manufacturer Dij.
- Tactical drones, intelligence with more equipment
Also designed for surveillance, intelligence and observation missions, tactical drones are larger and, therefore, can transport more payload, equipment capable of providing more precise data, better resolution images.
The patrolman, developed by Safran Electronics & Defense, transports, for example, the same type of camera as transport helicopters Caracal NH90 or H225m.
- Male drones and combat drones, from intelligence to missile routing
Average long altitude resistance drones fly more and more. Its main mission is also to observe, monitor, provide intelligence, but they can also be armed with missiles or bombs.
France Opera MQ-9 Reaper, produced by General American Atomics and is interested in the Aarok drone developed by the French company Turgis & Gaillard, while the European Drones Program Eurodrone continues to delay. In the future, Rafale’s fighting plane will be accompanied by a combat drone.
- Hale drones, at great altitude as civil planes
The great altitude and the long resistance are the keywords of these drones, which can do the size of a civil plane and that are mainly used for surveillance and intelligence missions. Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk RQ-4 drone is, for example, capable of staying more than 30 hours in the air.
- Haps, pseudo-satellites
The objective of the “pseudo-satellites” (‘Great altitude platform station’) is altitude altitude.
- Newcomers, sudden suicide bomber drones
The stars of the 2019 edition of the Bourget Fair were the “remote carriers”, or deported effectors: semi-Europe, missile missiles, which will be integrated into the future air combat system. They can be abandoned by a military transport plane such as the A400M, in swarm, either to monitor an area or release weapons, in a logic of “saturation” of opposite air defenses.
As for the suicide bomber drones, also called “Merodeo ammunition” or “Teleperada ammunition”, these are devices with an explosive load, different sizes and shapes, which are mass exposed to the 2025 edition of the Bourget Fair.
Source: BFM TV
