Tags: Aircraft.
The Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila (Eagle) was the first small battlefield drone developed in the United States during the 1970s to act as a target designator for the US Army. The modern history of the Army’s battlefield drone efforts began in 1972 when DARPA began the Remotely Piloted Aerial Observation/Designation System program which included PRAIRIE Calare and Aequare. PRAIRIE was a Ford Aerospace UAV with a TV camera and a laser target designator.