Long before UAVs dominated the skies, the Ryan Firebee was pushing boundaries as one of the earliest and most advanced jet-powered drones. From Cold War surveillance to live-fire training, its ...

There were still plenty of BQM-34A drones not converted to reconnaissance duty, mind you. In the early 1980s, many 34As were updated with more powerful 1,900 lbf J69-T-41A engines and improved ...

Firebee drones, which primarily serve as jet-powered gunnery targets for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, entered service in 1951 and still function as one of the most widely used target drones ...

The unmanned Teledyne-Ryan Firebee, used early in the Cold War for target practice, ... Drones used for business by civilians are also a growing part of our unmanned future, ...

In 1971, U.S. Top Gun pilots took on the latest combat drone -- and lost. A forgotten episode from the early years of unmanned aviation bears lessons for today.

When the Chinese put shot-down Firebee spy drones on display in Beijing in 1964, the U.S. could simply deny all knowledge. Forensics such as those used to identify the Mercer Street drone can help ...

A Lockheed DC-130 drone control aircraft carrying two BQM-34S Firebee target drones under its wing, circa 1975. They Navy does not like drones. That's why they keep terminating them. Nobody wants ...

The BQM-34F Firebee drone is the newest restoration project to be completed and put on display at the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum in Pueblo.

A Firebee drone mounted on NASA’s test B-52 bomber. The Pentagon has flown fighters against drones before. In 1971, spy drone manufacturer Teledyne Ryan modified their BFM-34 reconnaissance ...

The Navy, meanwhile, cancelled the most extensive armed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) program in U.S. history the same year the armed Firebee was tested, retiring its QH-50 DASH drone helicopter ...