Drones played an important and unheralded role in the U.S. air war over Vietnam and surrounding countries in the 1960s and ‘70s. Model 147 Lightning Bugs, based on the Q-2 target drone, spotted targets for manned bombers, jammed enemy radars and scattered propaganda leaflets. 

In 11 years of combat starting in 1964, USAF planes in Southeast Asia launched more than a thousand Lightning Bugs on more than 3,000 sorties. Drone War: Vietnam is available wherever you buy books.