https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/b9ced5b1-68e1-4c11-a906-f643eda5eeb1 Support Our Channel : https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm This rare film shows the U.S. Army's developmental program known as Project Hermit, in which war-weary, radio controlled aircraft were flown into ground targets. The intent of these tests was to develop aircraft that could be used against fortified targets, especially Japanese cave systems and German submarine pens. At the 2:10 mark, a pilotless B-17 is shown with its various remote control systems displayed. At 2:49, the aircraft takes off and control is turned over to a airborne B-17. A ground station takes control from about 12 miles from the target, and at 3:25 the big bomber crashes directly into the ground at 200 mph. The technology shown in the film ended up adopted into Project Aphrodite (also known as Operation Aphrodite), where war-weary aircraft including B-17s and B-24s were modified with radio controls, and in some cases television cameras, and then stuffed with high explosives. They were then flown into targets in Occupied France and Europe with mixed results. The U.S. Navy also developed pilotless aircraft including the TDR-1 Torpedo Drone, which used a TV camera system for visual guidance. The Navy's counterpart to Aphrodite, known as Operation Anvil, also proved unsuccessful and was cancelled after only two missions. Famously, the first mission resulted in the death of Lt. Joseph Kennedy, Jr., the brother of future President John F. Kennedy, as well as his co-pilot Bud Wiley. Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXlfiPejcrI Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:28:10 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/b9ced5b1-68e1-4c11-a906-f643eda5eeb1 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.