Stone to Silicon

Transport & space · 1995

Predator UAV

A remotely piloted aircraft flies long surveillance missions guided by satellite links.

The General Atomics RQ-1 Predator first deployed in 1995 over the Balkans, combining GPS navigation and satellite datalinks for 24-hour flights. It defined the modern military drone. Uncrewed aircraft later spread to mapping, agriculture and delivery.

See it in the living treeWikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2