Read Nikola Tesla's Drone Patent... From 1898

Nikola Tesla, the inventor, electric car company namesake, and beloved darling of the internet, had a great many visions in his mind. And not just killer robots, but killer robots he thought were so deadly that the mere risk of their use would bring about peace. The patent, for "Method of and apparatus for controlling mechanism of moving vessels or vehicles," was granted November 8th, 1898. For a device like this to work, it needed to be wireless, and Tesla envisioned it powered by electrical waves. In a broad sense, then, my invention differs from all of those systems which provide for the control of the mechanism carried by a moving object and governing its motion in that I require no intermediate wires, cables, or other form of electrical or mechanical connection with the object save the natural modia in space.