This issue of Proceedings focuses on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), formerly known as remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), that have been transformed into missile-firing, bomb-dropping joint combat air systems (J-UCAS). Thanks to miniaturization but mostly to the Global Positioning System—that boon to amateur sailors and desert warriors—the vehicles have become operationally effective. Lieutenant Colonel Jay Stout, a former Marine F/A-18 pilot, discusses the possibilities of no-risk (to aircrews) close air support , a proposal echoed by Ensign Nathan Brasher, who ventures farther into the realm of air-to-air combat with unmanned vehicles. Lieutenant Commander Donn Keels even sees a place for unmanned combat search-and-rescue vehicles when downed aircrews need a helping hand from above.
