Lockheed MQM - 105 Aquila 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 . PRAIRIE was able to target a truck and guide a laser - guided bomb to it . DARPA does not have a charter to build operational systems , and passed the concept to the Army Aviation Systems Command , which decided to proceed with the next phase of development , a System Technology Demonstrator ( STD ) . In 1975 the Army put the follow - on effort up for bid , and Lockheed was the low bidder . This phase of the program lasted until 1979 and demonstrated that the system had military potential and it could be developed at a reasonable risk . The RPV - STD effort created a non - stealthy tailless air vehicle with anhedral wing tips , that was launched by a pneumatic launcher , and was recovered in a trampoline - like structure which held a net . The system used an unsecured data link for tracking and data . From December 1975 - November 1977 this RPV - STD system flew 149 flights , 35 by the contractor , and 114 by the Army team . At the completion of this phase the Aviation Systems Command worked with the user proponent which was the Artillery Branch to develop the requirements for a field - able system . In 1979 the Aviation Systems Command issued a Full Scale Engineering Development Request for Proposal for a systems which would meet the Artillery ' s Required Operational Capability . Lockheed Missile and Space Division won the contract in late 1979 . The contract provided for the delivery off 22 air vehicles , 4 Ground Control Stations , 3 Launch Systems , 3 Recovery Systems and support hardware . This target acquisition , designation and aerial reconnaissance ( TADAR ) program effort produced a stealthy tailless aircraft driven by a Herbrandson piston engine with a 26 " pusher propeller . The Westinghouse payload was a television imager / laser designator in a turret in the belly . The laser designator was intended for use with the M712 Copperhead artillery ammunition and the AGM - 114 Hellfire missile . Development of a Ford Aerospace FLIR / laser designator payload began in 1984 . Secure communications with the air vehicle was provided by a joint Army / Air Force program called Modular Integrated Communications / Navigational System ( MICNS ) . On the nose of the air vehicle was a Near IR source which interacted with the Recovery System to automatically recover the aircraft after the flight . The Aquila was hydraulically launched by an All American Engineering catapult mounted on a 5 ton truck . The hydraulically operated Recovery System , built by Dornier , consisted of a vertical net held by a frame work shaped like an inverted " h " into which the air vehicle would automatically fly . This was also mounted on a 5 ton truck . For testing and training an emergency parachute backup recovery system was provided . The necessity for these systems was the specified requirement to be able to enter a small clearing surrounded by 50 ' trees and to be able to quickly launch a mission . Then at the end of a mission , land in a similar clearing surrounded with 50 ' trees and quickly relocate the system after recovery . The Ground Control System ( GCS ) was also mounted on the back of a 5 ton truck and provided room for three operators to control the mission . The air vehicle operator controlled the flight by entering in way - points and orbit parameters into the Norden computer . The payload operator used a joystick and console to control the pointing of the payload camera , the auto - tracking of the target , and the laser designating . The third operator was the mission commander which controlled the overall mission and maintained communications with his commander . The GCS was connected to the Remote Ground Terminal air vehicle tracking / communications antenna over a fiber optic cable . Due to a delay in the MICNS secure data link , the first prototype system was produced in a Block I configuration . This system used the same air vehicle ( minus the MICNS and automated landing system ) , the same hydraulic launcher , the same hydraulically operated recovery system , and same Ground Control System . This system used an unsecure interim data link and an alternate semi - automatic system to guide the air vehicle into the net . This system flew 17 flights during July – November 1982 . This system was then assigned to an Army Early Operational Capability ( EOC ) unit from July 1983 - July 1984 which conducted 20 flights . This EOC effort was created to provide the field with a system to identify any system weakness and provide the user to refine his tactics , techniques , and procedures for using the technology . The complete MQM - 105 began its contractor flight testing in December 1983 in Fort Huachuca , AZ . The Phase I of Government Developmental Testing II ( DT II ) began in May 1985 but testing was suspended in Sept 1985 because the system did not pass 21 of the 149 performance specifications . From October 1985 - January 1986 , Lockheed conducted a Test - Fix - Test effort at its own expense , and demonstrated that the major problems were solved . The DT IIA began in February 1986 and successfully completed in May 1986 although reliability problems continued to dog the system . The Government ' s Operational Test ran from October 1986 through March 1987 . Although the Army requested that the system be put in production , the DOD review board cancelled the program in 1987 . Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine showed residual assets being used in US Army / South Korea war games in 1988 . The original fielding plans called for 780 air vehicles and 72 Launcher / Recovery System / Ground Control Station combinations . There was turmoil throughout most of the Engineering Development of the Aquila Program both from internal and external causes . Within a year of the 1979 contract award , Congress zeroed the funding for the program as part of an overall budget reduction effort . Funding was restored in the following budget . Although the Aviation Systems Command was tasked with managing the system development , the Army Aviation Branch was generally hostile to the RPV in the fear that it would reduce the need for pilots and it competed for funds with the AHIP OH - 58D program . Although the program was developed for the Artillery Branch , if the system had been fielded , it would have fell under the Intelligent Branch . Lockheed moved the development effort from California to Texas in 1984 which broke up the contractor ' s development team . The Army moved the program management responsibilities from St . Louis , Mo . to Huntsville , AL in 1985 which broke up that team . To save program costs , the operational approach was modified from self contained units to centralized launch and recovery with in - flight hand - offs between ground stations . The Aquila , as with other small RPVs , always labored under the " It ' s just a model airplane , why does it cost so much ? " syndrome . This led to a relatively low cost airframe with many single point failure points carrying expensive payloads and data links . When the Israeli ' s demonstrated the real world usefulness of RPV ' s in the Beqaa Valley in 1982 , U . S . support for the systems jumped . The Army began to push for new variants of Aquila such as Aquila Lite which attempted to redesign the ground systems to be carried on HMMWV ' s instead of 5 ton trucks . In addition , U . S Naval and Air Force interest in having RPV / UAV systems blossomed . Multiple Navy and Air Force systems were proposed . To attempt to prevent duplicate efforts , Congress proposed that the Air Force be responsible for air vehicle development and the Navy develop the payloads . Since the Aquila was so far along in its development it was allowed to continue outside of the proposed framework ( somewhat as an orphan ) . All three services balked at Congress ' s proposal . Lockheed also considered a variant of the Aquila named the " Altair " for international sales , but without the government production tooling the program was unaffordable .