The roots of unmanned systems can be traced back to Nikola Tesla's 1898 radio-controlled boat, but it was Archibald M. Low's development of the “Aerial Target” in 1917 that marked the birth of the first powered unmanned aerial vehicle.
A century of unmanned flight began with a boat that nobody was standing in.
What has changed since is not the idea but the means: composite structures light enough to carry useful payloads, controllers small enough to fit in a printed airframe, and autonomy good enough to be trusted out of sight. The timeline below marks the points that matter.
Tesla's radio-controlled boat
Nikola Tesla demonstrates a radio-controlled boat at Madison Square Garden — the first practical demonstration of remote control, and the conceptual root of every unmanned system that followed.
The Aerial Target
Archibald M. Low develops the “Aerial Target”, marking the birth of the first powered unmanned aerial vehicle.
Autonomous platforms
Unmanned systems now operate across air, ground and surface domains — carrying sensors and payloads for ISR, survey, inspection and patrol, built from composite structures that did not exist a generation ago.
Indigenous capability
Mechzilla builds scalable manufacturing capability to deliver reliable, indigenous unmanned platforms — contributing to the growth of India's aerospace and defence ecosystem.