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The Firebee I was the result of a 1948 U.S. Air Force request and contract to Ryan for a jet-powered gunnery target. The first flight of the XQ-2 Firebee prototype took place in early 1951. The drone featured swept flight surfaces and a circular nose inlet. The initial models had distinctive "arrowhead" shaped endplates on the tailplane.
The Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug is a jet-powered drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle, produced and developed by Ryan Aeronautical from the earlier Ryan Firebee target drone series. Beginning in 1962, the Model 147 was introduced as a reconnaissance RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle, nomenclature of that era) for a United States Air Force project ...
The Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug reconnaissance drone was enjoying success in Vietnam in the early 1960s, but it lacked the range to fly deep into China and back out again. . In particular, the Chinese nuclear development facility at Lop Nor was far out of reach of the Lightning Bugs, and was barely within reach of the Lockheed U-2 spyplane, which had become far too vulnerable to SA
Ryan became involved in the missile and unmanned aircraft fields, developing the Ryan Firebee unmanned target drone, the Ryan Firebird (the first American air-to-air missile) among others, as well as a number of experimental and research aircraft. Ryan acquired a 50% stake in Continental Motors Corporation, the aircraft-engine builder, in 1965 ...
Ryan BQM-34 Firebee jet-propelled drone, used as a target drone. A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. [1] One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational from 1935. Its name led to the ...
The well-proven Ryan Firebee was a good platform for such experiments, and tests to evaluate it for the reconnaissance mission proved highly successful. A series of reconnaissance drones derived from the Firebee, the Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug series, were used by the US to spy on North Vietnam , Communist China, and North Korea in the 1960s ...
The Q-2C/BQM-34A Firebee target drone was modified for the reconnaissance mission and designated AQM-34 or Ryan Model 147. Its size was increased to enhance range and payload. Its size was increased to enhance range and payload.
In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel used unarmed U.S. Ryan Firebee target drones to spur Egypt into firing its entire arsenal of anti-aircraft missiles. This mission was accomplished with no injuries to Israeli pilots, who soon exploited the depleted Egyptian defences.