"The Forgotten Drone of WWII" Topic

"Conventional wisdom has that the proliferation of American remote-controlled warfare is a product of the post-9/11 era. While it's true that Predator and Reaper drones capable of dropping laser or satellite guided bombs have come into their own in that time, America's first drone bombers took to the skies much earlier than that—in 1944 to be precise.

In the early years of World War II, desperate for any technological advantage it could use on the battlefield, the U.S. military funded all sorts of unusual projects using new, untested technologies. The atomic bomb is one example. Another was essentially World War II's equivalent of a Reaper drone. The U.S. Navy paid the Interstate Aircraft Company to develop a remote-controlled bomber that could carry a 1,000 pound bomb or torpedo…"
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Amicalement
Armand

They seem to have 'forgotten' the converted bombers that took off with a small crew then were radio guided to the target. One of J F Kennedy's brothers died when one exploded mid-air as it was being switched over to remote operation. There were dozens of these conversions made and used.

Then there was the 'Bat', a small winged weapon that was intended to be flown into Japanese suicide bombers – a bit hard to decide if it was a drone or a missile, and I don't think it really made it into service before VJ/VP day.

If remote control counts then the German air to surface missile should count.

The US missile thingy is at the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian museum. That is a great place to visit too.

Funny, I've never forgotten about this…