UAV Recon

"Our UAV is online!"

- Multiplayer Announcer

"Enemy UAV is airborne!"

- Multiplayer Announcer

UAV Recon is a killstreak reward in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. After achieving a 3 kill killstreak, the player will be able to call in an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that serves as a reconnaissance vehicle. The UAV Recon will show enemy players as red dots on the user's minimap, even when they are not firing their weapon - unless players are using either UAV Jammer or Cold-Blooded as perks. The UAV will update enemy positions every 3 seconds, and will last for 30 seconds. 10 experience points are earned for calling in a UAV Recon in Call of Duty 4. Modern Warfare 2 players receive 100 experience points for doing so. UAV Recons will not stack in CoD4; a new UAV Recon called in the middle of another Recon will not extend the current UAV Recon; instead it will cancel it out, starting a new 30 second cycle immediately after it is used. In Modern Warfare 2 however, UAVs stack - if one is called in while one is already out, it will double the UAV's scanning rate.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Requiring a killstreak of just 3, the UAV Recon is easy to acquire, and may be kept until another UAV Recon wears off. Tactical use of UAV Recons are typically reserved for coordinated teams or more serious game modes. In Hardcore game modes, a UAV Recon is required to view the minimap without pausing the game - however unsilenced weapon users will not show up as red dots.

UAV Recon is very effective when paired with Airstrike, allowing the user to select an area where there are more enemies - in order to achieve more kills.

Enemy players with the UAV Jammer perk will not show up on the player's minimap if a UAV Recon is up, unless they fire an unsilenced weapon.

In the Free-for-All game mode, an active UAV Recon will immediately expire upon a player's death.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
UAV Recon makes its return in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. UAV Recon is immediately unlocked when a player creates a new profile, and can be used when the player obtains three kills as in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Any hostile player with the Cold-Blooded perk will be invisible to the UAV Recon.

The UAV itself appears as a Drone in the sky and may be shot down with any weapon, including Handguns, Machine Pistols and Light Machine Guns, but not Shotguns. Unlike many other killstreak awards, the UAV takes full damage from bullets. A UAV has 700 health, so generally, around a magazine of assault rifle ammo will take it down, and less, with Stopping Power Pro. Players are awarded 50 XP for shooting it down (500XP in Search and Destroy).

Unlike in Call of Duty 4, the UAVs are stackable. If a teammate calls in a UAV while another one is still active, enemies' locations will update on the minimap every one-and-a-half seconds instead of three. Also unlike in Call of Duty 4, a UAV will persist through the user's death in Free-for-All game modes.

If the player deploys fifty UAVs, they get a moving version of the UAV symbol (a radar dish) as an emblem. This is much easier than it sounds, especially if tried with Hardline, making it only take 2 kills per UAV, a total of one hundred kills to get the rotating symbol, or one hundred and fifty kills without it.

UAVs are usually passed up for seemingly better killstreak rewards, making their appearance in multiplayer matches much rarer when compared to their equivalents in Call of Duty 4 or Call of Duty: World at War. However, when playing a team-based match, UAVs become valuable killstreak rewards because they allow both the user and his/her teammates to see where enemies are (resulting in more efficient killstreaks).

Despite its all-around usefulness, the UAV is generally more often seen used in Search and Destroy game modes, where there are less kills available, and there is much more need to find out where enemies are.

Shadow Company has a UAV operator in Endgame called Avatar One.

Trivia

 * Players on Xbox Live can purchase a small UAV with which the player's Avatar will interact.
 * Even when the UAV drone cannot see you, you still appear as a red dot. It may be possible that the UAV has a thermal detector, hence why the cold blooded perk means you can evade the UAV locating you to enemies.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, when the UAV starts to leave, Stinger and Javelin Missile Launchers cannot lock onto it. If a missile is launched and the UAV starts to leave, it will register as a hit but not destroy the UAV.
 * Modern Warfare 2 is the first game in the Call of Duty series where players can see and shoot down UAVs.
 * It is possible to take down a UAV with almost any gun.
 * This is one of the 3 killstreaks that cannot be used to kill enemy players. The others are the Counter-UAV and the EMP.
 * It is replaced in Call of Duty: World at War by the Recon Plane.
 * The UAV, along with counter-UAV and EMP are the best killstreaks to use for match bonuses, as they benefit the whole team instead of one person.
 * The UAV drone is actually an RQ-1 Predator Drone, as it is used for reconnaissance, not offensive operations.
 * After it is blown up, the pieces are actually that of a helicopter.
 * The visible UAV in the sky always travels clockwise.
 * Destroying UAVs is the most considerable way to complete Cold-Blooded perk challenge.
 * Counter-UAVs will over ride UAVs even if there are more UAVs in the sky then there are Counter-UAVs.
 * It is strange why the UAV emblem is a radar, even thought you can see the Killstreak is an RQ-1 Predator. This was probably done because it has the same function of a radar.
 * If you get a UAV in a Care Package, it is best to let a member of your team to get it, as you can still see the enemies, and you get 300 experience for the share package in Team Deathmatch. In modes like Demolition, you get 150 experience.