alternatehistory.com

What is the earliest we could see armed UAVs participating in wars?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle
The earliest attempt at a powered unmanned aerial vehicle was A. M. Low's "Aerial Target" of 1916.[2] Nikola Tesla described a fleet of unmanned aerial combat vehicles in 1915.[3] A number of remote-controlled airplane advances followed, including the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, during and after World War I, including the first scale RPV (Remote Piloted Vehicle), developed by the film star and model airplane enthusiast Reginald Denny in 1935.[2] More were made in the technology rush during World War II; these were used both to train antiaircraft gunners and to fly attack missions. Nazi Germany also produced and used various UAV aircraft during the course of WWII. Jet engines were applied after World War II, in such types as the Teledyne Ryan Firebee I of 1951, while companies like Beechcraft also got in the game with their Model 1001 for the United States Navy in 1955.[2] Nevertheless, they were little more than remote-controlled airplanes until the Vietnam Era.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_unmanned_aerial_vehicles

The Luftwaffe had one in WW2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_As_292
But it was similar to the rest of the major powers who were experimenting with target drones for AAA.

It looks like the first recon drones appeared in the 1950s and were extensively used in Vietnam.
Still it took until the 21st century to have armed drones running missions (according to Wikipedia that is).

So how soon could a weaponized drone been used on the battlefield?
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