Check out the 22 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) engineered and developed in the United States that played significant roles in and changed the battlefield in the twenty-first century (sorted by official service year).

1. AAI MQ-19 Aerosonde (2001)

The AAI Aerosonde took to the skies at the turn of the century after a successful development in the late 1990s. This small-class UAV, dubbed “Lalma,” is the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in less than 27 hours autonomously.

It measures 1.70 m in length, 2.90 m in span, and 0.60 m in height. It has a top speed of 140 kph and a range of up to 3,000 km thanks to a single Aerosonde K-twin engine in pusher configuration.

AAI MQ-19 Aerosonde
(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

This UAV was originally designed to collect meteorological data, but it has since evolved into an ISR in the hands of the US Armed Forces. The most recent version, the Mark 4.7, has been upgraded by the American military and now includes new features such as automated launch and recovery, an integrated data link facility, and a NATO-compliant design.