Ryan AQM-34L Firebee
In 1948, the USAF requested Ryan Aircraft to develop a jet-powered target drone aircraft, as it was anticipated that propeller-driven drones would be too difficult to intercept for fast jet fighters then coming into service. Ryan responded with the Q-2 Firebee, which could be launched from modified A-26 Invader drone controllers, or from the ground.
While the Q-2 was adequate, the rapid progression of aviation in the 1950s rendered it obsolete. Ryan then developed an advanced version, the Q-2C, which was larger, used swept wings, and used an uprated engine with a different style intake. This subsequently became the BQM-34 after 1962.
Most Firebees were (and remain) used as targets for weapons training, and could be configured with flares or radar reflectors to simulate different types of aircraft. If the drone was not destroyed, the controller could then cut off the engine and deploy a parachute, after which a helicopter would recover it for future use. Drone controllers either flew the Firebee from a ground station, or more often, converted DC-130 Hercules aircraft. BQM-34 drones are still in service.
Besides their use as targets, the BQM-34 series was also converted to reconnaissance duties prior to the Vietnam War. Under various codenames (Firefly, Lightning Bug, and Buffalo Hunter), a dizzying amount of Firebee variants for these purposes were built and used. Some were equipped with cameras, others with infrared detectors and signals intelligence (SIGINT) equipment. The advantage of Firebees were that, if they were shot down or crashed, there would be no loss of a pilot. Between 1968 and 1970, when American aircraft were officially banned from flying over North VIetnam, BQM-34s were used instead. Several were shot down, though North Vietnamese MiG fighters found them elusive targets; rumors persist that one MiG-17 crashed while in pursuit of a Firebee, and the controller claimed it as an aerial victory. Firebees were also used over China and North Korea, and as late as 2003 over Iraq, where they were used as decoys for Iraqi surface-to-air missiles.
As noted by the camera nose, this is an AQM-34L reconnaissance variant. It is actually a composite of several Firebees assigned to the 432nd Tactical Drone Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and was displayed as something of a gate guard for the 432nd before being moved to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 1978.
Since the AQM-34s were used in combat, they were either painted black or medium gray; "Jaws" here is painted is a blue-gray pattern. Its nickname needs no explanation!
Ryan AQM-34L Firebee
In 1948, the USAF requested Ryan Aircraft to develop a jet-powered target drone aircraft, as it was anticipated that propeller-driven drones would be too difficult to intercept for fast jet fighters then coming into service. Ryan responded with the Q-2 Firebee, which could be launched from modified A-26 Invader drone controllers, or from the ground.
While the Q-2 was adequate, the rapid progression of aviation in the 1950s rendered it obsolete. Ryan then developed an advanced version, the Q-2C, which was larger, used swept wings, and used an uprated engine with a different style intake. This subsequently became the BQM-34 after 1962.
Most Firebees were (and remain) used as targets for weapons training, and could be configured with flares or radar reflectors to simulate different types of aircraft. If the drone was not destroyed, the controller could then cut off the engine and deploy a parachute, after which a helicopter would recover it for future use. Drone controllers either flew the Firebee from a ground station, or more often, converted DC-130 Hercules aircraft. BQM-34 drones are still in service.
Besides their use as targets, the BQM-34 series was also converted to reconnaissance duties prior to the Vietnam War. Under various codenames (Firefly, Lightning Bug, and Buffalo Hunter), a dizzying amount of Firebee variants for these purposes were built and used. Some were equipped with cameras, others with infrared detectors and signals intelligence (SIGINT) equipment. The advantage of Firebees were that, if they were shot down or crashed, there would be no loss of a pilot. Between 1968 and 1970, when American aircraft were officially banned from flying over North VIetnam, BQM-34s were used instead. Several were shot down, though North Vietnamese MiG fighters found them elusive targets; rumors persist that one MiG-17 crashed while in pursuit of a Firebee, and the controller claimed it as an aerial victory. Firebees were also used over China and North Korea, and as late as 2003 over Iraq, where they were used as decoys for Iraqi surface-to-air missiles.
As noted by the camera nose, this is an AQM-34L reconnaissance variant. It is actually a composite of several Firebees assigned to the 432nd Tactical Drone Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and was displayed as something of a gate guard for the 432nd before being moved to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 1978.
Since the AQM-34s were used in combat, they were either painted black or medium gray; "Jaws" here is painted is a blue-gray pattern. Its nickname needs no explanation!