Prominent in the profile of the RQ-2B Pioneer is the simple wire "hook" and spherical dome of its sensor package. Atop the fuselage are the aircraft's control and transmission antennas.
The Navy has led the use of unmanned aircraft—drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—among the U.S. military services. In the World War I era, the service experimented with radio-controlled aircraft and had a major drone program during World War II.1 Both the Army Air Forces and Navy used explosive-laden, war-weary aircraft as radio-controlled attackers at the end of World War II, with the Navy continuing their use (from carriers) during the Korean War. But all of these were “one-way” attack aircraft.
A decade later the Navy again initiated a relatively large-scale UAV program—the Pioneer. Flown in combat by the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, the aircraft was highly successful.