Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress BQ-7 Aphrodite

Late in the war, at least 25 B-17s were converted into radio-controlled BQ-7 drones for Operation Aphrodite, loaded with 9,100 kg of Torpex high explosive and enough fuel for 560 km, intended to attack U-boat pens, V-1 flying-bomb sites and heavily protected fortifications. Two volunteers took each one up to 610 m before bailing out over England, handing control to another B-17 that steered it toward the target on a collision course. The radio-control hardware proved unreliable: between August 1944 and January 1945, 15 BQ-7s were launched against Germany without hitting a single target, with several crew killed, mostly in parachuting accidents. The program was cancelled in early 1945.