Unmanned combat aerial vehicle in the context of "Aircraft carrier"

Autonomous things, abbreviated AuT, or the Internet of autonomous things, abbreviated as IoAT, is an emerging term for the technological developments that are expected to bring computers into the physical environment as autonomous entities without human direction, freely moving and interacting with humans and other objects.

Self-navigating drones are the first AuT technology in (limited) deployment. It is expected that the first mass-deployment of AuT technologies will be the autonomous car, generally expected to be available around 2020. Other currently expected AuT technologies include home robotics (e.g., machines that provide care for the elderly, infirm or young), and military robots (air, land or sea autonomous machines with information-collection or target-attack capabilities).

Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.

Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and between various nations. Historically, at least since the mid-eighteenth century, Western thinking has generally considered the use of assassination as a tool of statecraft to be illegal. Some academics, military personnel and officials describe targeted killing as legitimate within the context of self-defense, when employed against terrorists or combatants engaged in asymmetrical warfare. They argue that unmanned combat aerial vehicles (drones) are more humane and more accurate than manned vehicles.

The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and subsequently became part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered blended-wing-body aircraft capable of semi-autonomous operation and aerial refueling.

The X-47B first flew in 2011, and as of 2015, its two active demonstrators had undergone extensive flight and operational integration testing, having successfully performed a series of land- and carrier-based demonstrations. In August 2014, the US Navy announced that it had integrated the X-47B into carrier operations alongside manned aircraft, and by May 2015 the primary test program was declared complete. The X-47B demonstrators themselves were intended to become museum exhibits after completing flight testing, but the Navy later decided to maintain them in flying condition pending further development.

Drone warfare is a form of warfare that involves the deployment of military drones or military robots. The robots may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles (USV) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).The applications of UAVs, UGVs, USVs, and UUVs are diverse, ranging from reconnaissance, kamikaze missions, bomb disposal, cargo transport, and medical evacuation to anti-air, anti-armor, and anti-personnel role. As of 2019, the following nations have been identified as having operational UCAVs: China, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Drones find application in a variety of military operations, including electronic warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, training and logistics support. However, they are most frequently employed in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions, enabling direct attacks on targets as part of a kill chain or through manned-unmanned teaming. Aerial drone attacks can be executed through the use of purpose-built UCAVs, that deploy ordnance during a drone strike, or by weaponized commercial UAVs that drop munitions or engage aerial assault. Heavy-lift drones may also be used to airlift supplies or evacuation of wounded personnel across a battlefield. Smaller drones, such as SUAVs and MAVs, are man-portable and can be deployed for low-altitude, short-range support operations. Larger drones can serve a "mothership" role by deploying smaller, sub-drones or by being equipped with electronic warfare features such as a signal repeater. Multiple drones can operate and attack simultaneously in a drone swarm and autonomous drones, such as LAWs, utilize military AI.