UAV Recon

The UAV Recon is a killstreak reward in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and an Assault and Support pointstreak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and a Scorestreak in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Overview
The UAV Recon will reveal the position of enemies, displaying them as red dots on the minimap for 30 seconds, even when they are not firing their weapon - unless players are using the UAV Jammer, Cold-Blooded or Assassin as perks. The UAV will update enemy positions every three 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. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, players receive 100 experience points for doing so. UAV Recons will not stack in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare; a new UAV Recon called in the middle of another UAV 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 Call of Duty: 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 three, 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.

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

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 Free-for-All, 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 (two with Hardline) 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, excluding shotguns. Unlike most other killstreak awards, the UAV takes full damage from bullets. A UAV has 700 health, so generally, around a magazine and half 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: Modern Warfare, 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: Modern Warfare, 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 two 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: Modern Warfare 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 their 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.

Campaign
In "Mind The Gap", a UAV is used briefly by the SAS at the beginning of the mission.

Multiplayer
The UAV returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and functions identically to the UAV in previous installments, however is airborne for only 23 seconds instead of 30. The UAV is earned after 3 points in the Assault Strike Package and after 4 points in the Support Strike Package. Calling in three UAV's from the same team have the same effect of calling in an Advanced UAV as seen and proven in this video.

Multiplayer
The UAV returns in Black Ops 2 and functions identically to the UAV in previous installments. It requires a score streak of 375.

Trivia

 * Players on Xbox Live can purchase a small UAV for 240 Microsoft Points with which the player's Avatar will interact.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, when the drone starts to leave, the Stinger, AT4-HS and the Javelin are unable to lock-on to it. If a missile is launched and the UAV starts to leave, it will register as a hit but not destroy the UAV.
 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the first game in the Call of Duty series where players can see and shoot down UAVs.
 * After it is blown up, the pieces are actually the same as from a helicopter.
 * The UAV drone always spawns in the airspace south of the map.
 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, if the UAV is called right as the player gets an airstrike, the airstrike will be canceled.
 * UAVs are especially useful in Hardcore game modes as the player's team will receive the on-screen mini-map.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the UAV is the only pointstreak to appear in more than one Strike Package.
 * Predator Missiles can take out enemy UAVs.
 * The UAV in Call of Duty: Black Ops II has the same acquisition sound as the Spy Plane, however this could be a placeholder.

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