Notes: This is an advanced, high-speed reconnaissance drone used when high performance and quick penetration are needed. The UAV includes 2 hardpoints that may be fitted with extra equipment, droppable sensors, or weapons. It can use a terrain-matching radar system similar to cruise missiles for guidance, or one of several other techniques. Payloads are multipurpose, with several missions often being performed during the same trip. An interesting payload sometimes carried by this vehicle is an EMP generator; this device has a range of 2 km and works in a 30-degree cone in front of the vehicle. On a roll of 8 on 1D20, any unshielded electronics in the cone are disabled immediately, and remain disabled until a repair using 1D6+2 parts has been performed. In addition to ground and ship-launchings, this UAV can be air launched from most aircraft that can carry the weight.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle was new in production at the start of the Twilight War, and is rather rare.

Notes: Condor is a HALE (High-Altitude, Long-Endurance) UAV built by Boeing in consultation with Dick Rutan, builder of many long-endurance aircraft, including the Voyager, the first aircraft to circle the earth nonstop on one tank of fuel. It is basically a powered sailplane, with a wingspan of over 60 meters, used for long-range surveillance and strategic reconnaissance. Built largely out of honeycomb ceramics and composites, it is very light for its size. The sensor suite is comprehensive, modified from satellite gear, and has a 0.2 meter resolution even from maximum altitude.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Only 5 Condors were built, and at least three were known to have been lost in the Twilight War, with one being shot down by a missile, one being brought down by a MiG-31, and one that crashed for unknown reasons.

Notes: This was the result of a joint US Air Force/Navy "black" project, little known to the public until recently. It is a stealth UAV used for strategic reconnaissance and special operations preparatory work against highly defended sites. It is small and stealthy, and any attempt to locate is on radar or use radar-guided weapons against are three levels more difficult than normal. Attempts to locate with infrared methods, including active and passive IR, thermal imaging, or FLIR are likewise three levels more difficult than normal, as is attempting to use an IR-guided weapon against it. It is a fast, high-flying, difficult to detect vehicle that has the potential to yield a great deal of intelligence data for US forces. Experiments with this UAV are still ongoing.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The existence of this UAV was not known to the public until the Twilight War. It gathered a staggering amount of information on the enemy on the early phases of the war.

Notes: This is a "VTOL UAV," a UAV that is essentially a miniature helicopter. It was originally designed for use in aerial cinematography, to take motion pictures under difficult conditions and to supplement pictures shot from manned aircraft and from cranes. It was quickly adapted to military use, with its ability to take stable video and feed it to ground stations very useful to battlefield commanders and intelligence personnel. In addition to the usual cameras, the DP-4 has a useful payload that can be used to carry other sensors and devices (a common such payload is a laser designator).

Notes: This is a somewhat larger and more capable version of the Exdrone, fielded by the US Marines and Coast Guard in the early 1990s. It is of similar, but stronger construction, with a better sensor suite, including a color day camera instead of the black and white one on the Exdrone. It can carry out similar missions to the Exdrone, including stripping out the sensors and delivering packages to downed aircrews, though this was rarely done since the Dragon Drone is more expensive than the Exdrone.

Notes: This is a smaller UAV designed to provide capabilities similar to larger, costlier drones in a cheaper package. It is one of the most produced UAVs ever built, with nearly 1000 built by the turn of the century. It was used by the US Marines as early as the 1991 Gulf War, and it's low cost (Exdrone is short for Expendable DRONE), made it popular with many intelligence efforts. It can also be used to drop small sensors and other packages, such as trail bugs, expendable jammers, etc. Interesting alternate uses for Exdrones was to strip out all sensors and pack the open bays with survival equipment for downed pilots. The vehicle can be destroyed in flight to avoid capture. The Exdrone is of simple construction, built mostly of Styrofoam and balsa wood inside a thin plastic shell.

Notes: This UAV was developed by the UASF and CIA in the mid-1960s. It has long been out of service with the US and its allies, but is still in common use, with upgrades, by China (copied from captured models), Pakistan, and some other Chinese trading partners. It is a very large UAV powered by a jet engine, ands launched from under the wing of a large flying aircraft (the US used a variant of the C-130 Hercules transport called the DC-130). It is also controlled by crewmen of that aircraft. It is a "semi-stealth" aircraft, not being designed for stealth, but achieving it as a byproduct of its design, construction materials, and small size. Aircraft attempting to use radar or radar-guided weapons against the Firebee suffer a one level penalty.

Notes: This vehicle is unusual in that it is an unmanned adaptation of a manned design, the Schweizer 330 light utility helicopter. Its large size as well as improvement of components over the years allows it to carry a sophisticated autonomous control system, with enough artificial intelligence to allow it to assign priority to targets and track or target certain ones based on threat level. The optics can identify a tank-sized target from 6.4 kilometers, and smaller or larger objects from proportionally closer or further distances. First deployment for the system was from US Navy Aegis cruisers in early 1997, followed by US Marine amphibious assault vessels.

Notes: This is currently the pinnacle of HALE UAV development. It is a long-range, long-endurance, high-speed stealth platform, used for strategic intelligence deep inside an enemy's borders. The sensor suite is comprehensive, and includes a long-range radio and data link that can interface directly with a variety of intelligence computer networks with an encrypted wireless connection at a data rate of over 50 Mbps. If a satellite is available, transmission range is potentially infinite. The synthetic aperture radar on the Global Hawk is so sensitive that it can detect moving targets at least the size of a main battle tank within a radius of 200 km, and is able to provide 6 meter resolution in an area of 37x110 km, 1.8-meter resolution in an area of 10 square kilometers, of zoom in to 0.2 meter resolution from maximum altitude. It is not a full stealth design, but radar detection and missile-guidance attempts against it are one level harder than normal, and IR detection and guidance attempts are two levels harder than normal.

Twilight 2000 Notes: It was Global Hawk aircraft that first detected the preparations of Russian for strategic nuclear strikes on the US and Europe; unfortunately, though some evacuations were made, not enough could be done to save most of the population hit, and panic and the resulting jam-ups took care of the rest. Throughout the Twilight War, the 20 Global Hawk UAVs gained valuable intelligence, particularly after the downing of much of NATO's satellite network. Two Global Hawks were also deployed by NATO (one by the British, and one by the Germans, dubbed "EuroHawks"), and one each was used by Israel and Saudi Arabia (called the "GulfHawk").

Notes: This drone was part of the first generation of "Endurance UAVs," drones with a very long flight time. Three versions of the Gnat are available, the basic Gnat-750, the Gnat-750XP, and the I-Gnat; in addition, the Predator (q.v.) is an advanced version of the Gnat-750. The Gnat-750 has been in use by the US since 1989, and later by Turkey, and was used extensively in the 1991 Gulf War. They were normally used to monitor troop movements and rear areas, since they are quiet and have a low radar and IR cross-section. An extensive user of this vehicle was the US Central Intelligence Agency. With a different electronics package, they can be used as a relay platform for radio and video signals, making it possible for personnel deep behind enemy lines to communicate with higher echelons. Gnat-750XP and I-Gnat actually have 2 hardpoints under each wing and can mount and use weapons, but these hardpoints are more commonly used for fuel tanks or extra sensors or laser designator pods.

Notes: This tiny US UAV is intended to be used at the platoon or higher level by forward combat elements, including LRSU units and special operations forces. Instead of a normal takeoff, the drone's engine is started, and the vehicle hand-thrown into the air. The Javelin was also bought by several US television stations to get pictures from crowded airspace above disaster locations and areas where there are hazardous conditions. Some coastal US TV stations also used them to report on beach conditions and surf size.

Notes: This US reconnaissance and artillery spotting drone was one of the first of the modern generation of drones used by the US, being deployed by the US Navy for naval artillery spotting from battleships such as the USS Iowa in late 1985, and having been steadily upgraded and used since then. It was developed from the Israeli Scout RPV (q.v.). Its two primary missions are artillery support and bomb damage assessment, though it is also used for general reconnaissance and tracking specific targets, due to its fine-resolution cameras, able to accurately photograph and track targets less than 200mm across from an altitude of over 4500 meters. Pictures from a Pioneer's video camera are featured in a very famous incident in the 1991 Gulf War, where an Iraqi squad tried to surrender to the drone. The primary users of the Pioneer are the US Navy and Marines (who use them for battlefield intelligence). The Pioneer is equipped with an arrestor hook and may be launched from standard carrier catapults.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The US Army operated 8 of them in the Twilight War and the 1991 Gulf War before that.

Notes: This is a mini-RPV used by the US Marines, US Army, Oregon Army National Guard, and US Special Operations Command. It is a basic camera-carrying drone, so light that no special launching gear is used; the drone is simply thrown into the air by hand with the engine running. It is a tough little bird, made largely of Kevlar. No fuel is used, rechargeable NiCad batteries being used to power the UAV. It may carry only small loads, but is useful for basic immediate reconnaissance. The camera is in a fixed installation in its nose, and has a narrow range of vision; the vehicle must be pointed directly at the target to photograph it, and that is where the Pointer got its name.

Notes: This was the US military's primary long-endurance reconnaissance UAV, first flying in 1994, and used extensively in the years leading up to the Twilight War and thereafter. It is a low-speed, but rock-steady platform for reconnaissance and intelligence work. A secondary function is to relay communications from special operations and intelligence assets behind enemy lines. It can interface directly with JSTARS intelligence and battle direction aircraft, and can provide real-time video, still camera, and synthetic aperture radar pictures at any range if satellites are available. Another use of the Predator is as an attack platform, with the capability to carry two Hellfire missiles. Predators normally worked closely with special operations personnel, relaying target information before raids or infiltration, and many were also operated by the CIA.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The Italian counterpart to the CIA acquired 6 Predators before hostilities started.

Notes: This is the predecessor of the BQM-145A, flying for the US Air Force since the late 1980s. It is similar in design and performance to the BQM-145A, a bit larger and slower than that vehicle, and lacking in some of the more advanced features of the BQM-145A, as well as the hardpoints. It is basically a high-speed reconnaissance machine, used for pre-strike reconnaissance, target designation, and battle damage assessment.

Notes: This light UAV was used as a short-range reconnaissance drone by the US Army, British Army, and French Navy, as well as for research purposes by NASA's Goddard Flight Center. It is a VTOL aircraft, using "freewing" technology, where the fuselage with engine may rotate freely to match the needs of flight. The UAV may fly like an aircraft or hover over targets like a helicopter, and it is nearly impossible to stall. It may carry several different payloads, for basic reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and antisubmarine work. The EW suite jams enemy radio and radar within a 20 km radius.

Notes: This UAVs manufacturing company, S-TEC, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of autopilot systems, so the Sentry has one of the best autopilot and autonomous function systems in the world of RPVs, providing a rock-steady camera platform and excellent maneuverability. Its customers include the US Military, from operational units to the research labs, and governmental agencies such as the CIA, NSA, Border Patrol, FBI, and DEA.

Notes: This is a larger and more capable version of the Sentry, with a better sensor suite and the capability to carry underwing stores on two hardpoints, and a slightly different design.

Notes: This multipurpose drone was the fourth try for the US Army to develop a medium multipurpose UAV to replace earlier designs. It has two hardpoints, one other each wing, to carry weapons or extra electronics. It has a good suite of observation gear and can carry a wide variety of other equipment. When used as an EW vehicle, the Shadow 200 makes all enemy radio and radar use 2 levels harder within a radius of 20 kilometers.

Notes: This is a larger, more capable version of the Shadow 200. It had more sales than the Shadow 200, in service with several US allies. Endurance is greatly increased, both by larger fuel tanks and more efficient engines. The sensor package is better, as is the load carrying capability. If an EW package is carried, the vehicle makes all enemy radio and radar use 2 levels more difficult in a radius of 30 km. In addition, this drone is sometimes used as an antiradar missile, jamming enemy radio and radar transmissions until its fuel runs out or it is commanded by ground control, then diving to hit an enemy radar with the cargo area taken up by a small warhead. The vehicle, like the Shadow 200, has two underwing hardpoints.

Notes: The initial version of this US RPV was first flown in 1982, but was not adopted until many improvements had been made, by the US Army in 1992. Since then, it has also been sold to Morocco, Egypt, Thailand, and Taiwan, as well as civilian agencies (it can be fitted with sprayer nozzles and tanks and used for insecticide spraying). Its military use is generally as a reconnaissance drone, though its ability to use sprayer mechanisms led it to be used late in the Twilight War to spray chemical agents on enemy troops. It is a medium-sized UAV with a moderate load-carrying ability. If not carrying a sprayer system, a hardpoint under each wing may carry weapons, extra equipment, or droppable intelligence devices.