Insectothopter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An image of the Insectothopter from the CIA's Virtual Museum.
An image of the Insectothopter from the CIA's Virtual Museum.

The Insectothopter was a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's research and development office in the 1970s. The Insectothopter was the size of a dragonfly, and was hand-painted to look like one. It was powered by a small gasoline engine to make the wings move and was fueled by a very small amount of gas.[1] The project was abandoned when the Insectothopter was found to be too difficult to control in crosswinds.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ CIA exhibits spy gadgets with Bond edge, CNN, October 28, 2003.
  2. ^ Shrader, Katherine: New Agency IARPA Develops Spy Tools, The Washington Post, May 31, 2007.