UAV Recon

UAV Recon is a multiplayer feature in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. After achieving a 3-kill streak (killing 3 enemy players in a row without dying) or 2 with the hardline perk a player may call in an overhead Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Reconnaissance Mission. The UAV Recon will show enemy player locations on the player's minimap using red dots. 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. UAV Recons will not stack; a new UAV Recon called in the middle of the current 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.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
With only requiring a 3 kill streak the UAV is fairly easy to obtain and can be kept until the current UAV has expired. Tactically using UAVs is usually reserved for coordinated teams or more serious game modes. Calling in a UAV is the only way to have the minimap displayed in Hardcore game modes. Inexperienced or hasty players tend to you use UAV as soon as they obtain it in order to gain the ten experience points awarded by its use. Unlike Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in multiplayer you can not see the flying recon plane.

When the UAV Recon is used in conjunction with an Airstrike it provides a great way of pinpointing where the strike should land. Enemy players with the UAV Jammer perk will not show up on the player's minimap during UAV Recon.

In the Free-for-All game mode, an active UAV Recon will immediately expire upon a player's death, even if the 30 second cycle was not completed.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
UAV Recon makes its return in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It is one of fifteen kill streak options that can be customized with a player profile. 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. With the Hardline perk, this kill streak is given at two kills. In addition, any player using the Cold-Blooded perk will not show up on the opposing team's UAV. As with every other form of aerial support, the UAV itself appears as an actual airborne vehicle (in the UAV's case, an airborne Predator drone) and can be shot down using any infinite ranged weapon or anti-aircraft launchers in the game.

Unlike in MW1, in Free-for-All the UAV will stay aloft for the full 30 seconds even if the player who launched it dies.

If the player deploys fifty UAVs, they get a moving version of the UAV symbol as an emblem.

Trivia

 * On the Xbox 360, players with Xbox Live can purchase a UAV with which the player's Avatar will interact with.