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The RQ-2 Pioneer is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has been utilized by the United States Navy, Marine, and Army, deploying aboard ship and ashore since 1986. Initially deployed aboard battleships to provide gunnery spotting, its mission evolved into reconnaissance and surveillance, primarily for amphibious forces. It is now deployed aboard the AUSTIN Class amphibious transport dock. Pioneer drones are perhaps most remembered for their role in the 1991 Gulf War, when a Pioneer launched by the battleship Wisconsin observed Iraqi troops on Faylaka Island surrendering shortly after Missouris attack on their trenchlines. When Navy officials offered to transfer a Pioneer to the Smithsonian Institution, curators at the National Air and Space Museum specifically asked for the UAV that Iraqi troops surrendered to during the Gulf War.
