A “book” may be written about the use of BQM-34 Firebee reconnaissance drones during the Vietnam War (and over PR China) (at least)
The BQM-34 Firebee, also known as the Q-2, was an air-to-air and surface-to-air missile target drone with high speed. It was primarily used for training fighter-interceptor pilots whose aircraft were equipped with missiles and for testing newly developed missiles.
The Firebee can be launched from a plane in flight or from the ground, and an operator on the ground or in the aircraft controls it by radio while it is in flight. The Firebee is safely brought to earth by a self-contained parachute after being struck by a missile and being disabled or after successfully completing its mission without damage.
A “book” may be written about the use of BQM-34 reconnaissance drones during the Vietnam War (and over PR China) (at least).
Strangely, some of their most bizarre missions were brought on by simple programming errors. One of these was the incorrect flight altitude entered, such as 60 instead of 600 feet.
I have no idea why, but rumors say that this frequently occurred during reconnaissance flights to the Kep AB in North Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, in one instance, an incorrectly programmed AQM-34L returned covered with telephone wires, branches, and other tree-related debris.
A MiG-17 that was due to land is claimed to have collided with another assigned to photograph the Kep AB…
A good illustration of how closely some of the MiGs approached them while attempting to intercept them is shown in the post’s main image: On a screen in the command console of a DC-130 drone carrier, the wing, and fin of a North Vietnamese MiG-21 are visible.
Another little-known fact is that most people now believe that armed unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) first debuted in the early 21st century.
AGM-65 Maverick missiles were really test-fired from BQM-34s in the early 1970s; in fact, there are reports that some of these UAVs (and the C-130s that deployed them) were even sent to Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
A previous BQM-34 may have been the first US ace of the Vietnam War; it is said to have lost five North Vietnamese MiGs between 1970 and 1971.
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