| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Invention is often perceived as an isolated event, attributable to a momentous "first" or to a single, patent-holding inventor. However, rather than questioning what qualified as the first drone aircraft or to whom the title as its "inventor" belongs, this article maps out the winding uncertainties of technical evolution- exploring how seemingly failed projects laid groundwork for the U.S. Navy's first successful radio-controlled drone aircraft. Situated as they are among a cluster of interwar emerging technologies, drones provide an instructive case study through which to consider how the U.S. Navy's research-and-development (R&D) communities function as a strategic asset. When the availability of one subcomponent can jeopardize an entire research project, such factors as institutional stability, the circulation of ideas, and willingness to reevaluate naval doctrine become critical to national security. So too does the ability of experts to recognize a (perhaps temporary) dead end when they face one. This article will flesh out, for this case, the actors and activities of innovation, emphasizing how the collaborative nature of this work can mitigate the uncertainties
and risks of R&D.
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