Unmanned drones the size of birds or smaller

Grader A: miss

Most US drones in 2009 were Raven scouts: hand-launched and unarmed, larger than a small bird. Armed flying devices the size of small birds did not exist in service. Nano scout drones reached only small numbers of troops after 2012 (grader background knowledge, not retrieved).

Test: Share of flying weapons of small-bird size or smaller: effectively zero in 2009; very few by 2014.

• U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems (CRS report R42136) (2012-01-03): Inventory dominated by small UAS such as the Raven (5,346 of 7,454), not micro air vehicles.

Grader B: miss

No bird-sized or smaller flying weapons were in wide service by 2009 or 2014. Micro air vehicles were fielded for reconnaissance only: the T-Hawk (from 2007) searched for roadside bombs, and the 16-gram Black Hornet Nano reached British troops in Afghanistan in 2012. Neither was a weapon. 'Many' bird-sized flying weapons did not exist.

Test: Test: a large share of flying weapons are bird-sized or smaller. 2009-2014: 0% of armed systems; small UAVs were unarmed reconnaissance tools.

• Micro air vehicle (Wikipedia) (accessed 2026-09): The 16 g Black Hornet Nano was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and the T-Hawk from 2007, both for surveillance and inspection, not as weapons.