General Atomics' MQ-1 Predator was introduced in the mid-90s and collected intelligence in the Balkans in the later portion of the decade. But when it was first equipped with Hellfire missiles in 2001, modern warfare was changed forever. No longer did a pilot have to be put at risk to track or strike a target. Instead, he or she could accomplish the mission stateside using a remotely-controlled aircraft.

Unmanned systems proved irreplaceable during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from to the stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel reportedly used to monitor the Pakistani compound where Osama bin Laden was later killed, to the bomb-disposal robots that investigated hazardous areas while keeping US service members out of harm's way.

They also proved to be controversial, as drone strikes killed as many as 114 innocent civilians from 2009 to 2015, according to the official US government count, which is disputed by human-rights organizations for being too low.

The military has pumped billions of dollars into the development and purchase of unmanned systems since the War on Terror began, particularly unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and has been operating them in increasingly sophisticated ways. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus famously said in 2015 that he believed the F-35 would be the Navy’s last manned fighter jet. Whether that’s true is yet to be seen, but it’s clear that the military’s current use of unmanned systems is only the tip of the iceberg.

"The physical technology underlying modern unmanned aerial systems is not revolutionary, though the improved control capabilities that make unmanned operations possible are," said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense strategy and budget expert with the American Enterprise Institute. "The real innovation is conceptual in this realm. For instance, the marriage of a slow-flying aircraft with remarkably advanced intelligence equipment and increasingly small munitions."

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and service-led research labs have hurtled toward making some of that conceptual innovation a reality, prioritizing the development of autonomous and artificial intelligence capabilities that can be funneled into the next generation of unmanned systems.

The Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office has been investing in autonomous capabilities that could be made available to the military in the short term. This fall, its director William Roper demonstrated to reporters a small UAS called Perdix, which can be fired from the flare launcher of the F-16 or F/A-18 and group together with other Perdix drones in a swarm.

SCO isn’t the only government agency developing swarming technology. In 2014, the Office of Naval Research tested unmanned high-speed boats with software enabling them to group together to escort ships or attack larger targets.

Other examples of future unmanned technologies include the Air Force’s "Loyal Wingman" — a UAS that will accompany fighter jets into war — and laser-armed unmanned planes being built by DARPA that can vertically take off and land.

The rise of unmanned systems in the military led to increased interest in autonomy and machine learning in the civil sector, said Eaglen, pointing to recent research in driverless cars. Although the military no longer has a monopoly on unmanned capabilities, it can benefit from the investments made by commercial companies and further develop them for warfighters.

This article is part of a larger Defense News 30-year anniversary project, showcasing the people, programs and innovations from the last three decades that most shaped the global security arena. Go to defensenews.com/30th to see all of our coverage.

Valerie Insinna is Defense News' air warfare reporter. She previously worked the Navy/congressional beats for Defense Daily, which followed almost three years as a staff writer for National Defense Magazine. Prior to that, she worked as an editorial assistant for the Tokyo Shimbun’s Washington bureau.

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