XBradTC

The use of armed remotely piloted vehicles such as the Predator and Reaper is commonplace in our nations wars since 9/11. But prior to that, it was virtually unknown.

In the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam war, and especially seeing the lethality of Soviet air defense systems in the Yom Kippur War, the US Air Force redoubled its efforts at the Suppression of Enemy  Air Defenses, or SEAD. 

Back in 1948, with jet aircraft entering into widespread service,  the Air Force realized it would need jet target drones. Eventually, Ryan Aeronautical would design what, after several designation changes, would be known as the AQM-34 Firebee. To say Ryan got it right on the first try would be something of an understatement,  as the Firebee is still in service today, from  its first flight in 1951!

Along the way, a great many variants have been produced.  

When the Air Force began using the Firebee, it turned out it was often quite a bit more difficult to shoot down than a full scale aerial target. That led to what became known as Operation Buffalo Hunter, where Firebee drones were used as reconnaissance platforms over Vietnam, Laos, and China. 

While Firebees suffered a high loss rate per sortie than manned aircraft, the fact that aircrews were not at risk, and the relatively low cost of the drones meant that it was a highly efficient program, and very cost effective. 

The Air Force was also looking at how to improve the effectiveness, and lower the risks to, its Wild Weasel SEAD program. And the idea of using AQM-34s made sense. 

Unfortunately, budget and technical challenges, as well as a general distaste for unmanned aircraft, meant the armed BGM-34 never entered service. But lessons learned in the program are still cited today  in Remotely Piloted Vehicle doctrine. 

A very interesting wrinkle in this video is the choice of munitions. The weapons used as cited as the Mk 81 Self Propelled Air to Surface Munition, or SPASM, and the "Stubby HOBO."  SPASM looks very much like a predecessor to  China Lake's later AGM-123 Skipper II rocked boosted Laser Guided Bomb, and Stubby HOBO is obviously a variant of the Vietnam era GBU-8 Homing Bomb System (HOBOS). 

What's weird is that I can't find any information about either weapon. Every cite simply refers to them being used by the BGM-34.