Across the pond the United Kingdom had been pursuing an unmanned aerial flight
program throughout this early period. Development during the teens and twenties culminated
with the DeHavilland Queen Bee, a target drone produced between 1934 and 1943, hence the
apiarian UAS nickname “drone,” which has stuck ever since. The Queen Bee inspired
Hollywood actor and model airplane enthusiast Reginald Denny to invent the Radioplane-1 (RP-
1) for gunnery practice and anti-aircraft military defense. At a cost of $600, more than 15,000
Denny Drones were used for training during World War II. The breakthrough UAV of World War
II belonged to the Germans, who produced the V-1 cruise missile. Designed in 1940 and
developed for a low cost, in the last 10 months of combat this jet engine airplane hit almost 25%
of its targets, causing the Allies to lose 2,900 aircrew; a fact that led Allied forces to conclude
that the V-1 offered a 4:1 return on investment