Black Dog A72058 AQM-34 Firebee

AQM-34 Firebee (other designation: Ryan Firebee) is an American training drone from the Cold War and modern times. The flight of his prototype took place in 1951, and the drone was put into service a year later (1952). In the BQM-34 A version, the drone was 6.68 m long with a wingspan of 3.93 m and a height of about 2.05 meters. The drive was provided by a single Continental J69-T29A turbojet engine with a thrust of 7.6 kN.

Design work on the drone, later designated AQM-34 Firebee, began in the late 1940s at the Ryan Aeronautical Company, commissioned by the US Air Force, which was interested in acquiring a jet-powered drone intended for training in shooting from cannons and machine guns . The US Navy also quickly became interested in the drone. Finally, a highly successful structure was created that could be used for various training purposes, which also proved to be amenable to modernization. It is often assumed that the AQM-34 Firebee is one of the most produced drones in the United States after 1945! It is worth adding that the last drones of this type were delivered in 2002, and further orders are possible.