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The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone 2 The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
For the perk, see Recon.
For a similar scorestreak in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, see Aerial Recon Drone.

The Recon Drone is a Support Strike Chain that appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, makes a brief appearance as a remote Equipment in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIand a Field Upgrade in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

The Recon Drone pointstreak gives the player a small, controllable UAV that can fly around the map, and "tag" enemy players, UAVs and turrets. "Tagged" targets will be permanently shown on friendly minimaps until they are killed. The position of tagged targets are updated in real-time, similar to the Blackbird killstreak from Call of Duty: Black Ops, except just dots and not arrows. The Recon Drone also acts as a mobile Scrambler, causing the radars of nearby enemies to fill with static.

If the player uses the Recon Drone in conjunction with a Advanced UAV, all tagged enemies will be shown on the minimap in real time. In addition to this, enemies will not show up as a simple red dot, they instead show up as an arrow which effectively shows their direction (like a Blackbird). If an entire team is running a Recon Drone and an Advanced UAV Strike Chain, the blackbird effect can stay up the whole game.[1]

Tagging an enemy grants the same amount of XP as a kill with additional assist XP for a "tagged assist" if that enemy is killed by a teammate. Being tagged by the Recon Drone gives a "Tagged by Recon Drone!" message, and lightly blinds and deafens the target, similar to a Flashbang.

The drone lasts for 60 seconds and it has an altitude limit. When reaching it, the image on the screen will start losing definition, similar to the gradual "snow-in" effect of the Scrambler perk. The altitude limit is unique for every map. Furthermore, flying underneath another active stationary airborne killstreak, such as an AH-6 Overwatch, will cause a disruption. Also, the Recon Drone can be destroyed somewhat easily, as it must fly close to the target in order to tag it, and the Drone can be seen on the radar at all times which makes it easy for the enemy to shoot the Drone down, also it can be locked on to and destroyed by SAM Turrets.

Against a Recon Drone, a player should look to lure the Recon Drone into a lower altitude area, or a corridor, as this will make it much easier to shoot at. It is also ill-advised to use Stingers or other launchers on the Recon Drone as (interestingly enough) they have two sets of flares, meaning three rockets are needed, rockets that would be better used on helicopters, Reapers, or an AC-130. The Recon Drone is quite fragile, being easily shot down by bullets, or the Recon Drone can even be destroyed in a single knife attack or by two Throwing Knifes should the Drone be close enough to knife, or the player has a good aim with Throwing Knives. EMP grenades are also very effective if thrown at a Recon Drone.

The Recon Drone can be used to explore the map to find secret spots, much as a player would use Theater or Spectator Mode to achieve the same goals.

It is important to remember that the Recon Drone requires UAV coordination in Hardcore modes that most would find not worth their time and effort. In Hardcore, tagging an enemy will still grant XP, but does not automatically bring up a UAV for anyone. A UAV or Advanced UAV has to already be up, or called in during tagging, for the Recon Drone to be useful.

The Recon Drone also appears in the Special Ops mission Arctic Recon as a tool for the player to mark the beacons, and also has a mounted machine gun with unlimited ammo, though it can overheat. In solo, the player can use the Recon Drone at will, whereas in co-op only the other player can use the Recon Drone.

The Recon Drone is absent in the Wii version of the game.

Gallery[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops III[]

Jacob Hendricks uses a Recon Drone during the mission Hypocenter in order to map out the abandoned Coalescence building for CIA Agent Rachel Kane. However, it is destroyed upon reaching the bottom of the silo.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare[]

"Remote controlled drone that marks enemies."
— In-game description


The Recon Drone returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare now as a Field Upgrade. Recon Drone behaves similarly to its Modern Warfare 3 version, but without the built-in Scrambler, has no flares, and having a different, larger design which makes it easily noticeable and more vulnerable. Players can use it to tag enemy players or NPCs (in Special Ops).

Players with Cold-Blooded cannot be tagged by the Recon Drone, although they are still visible on it.

Gallery[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II[]

"Remote-controlled drone that has manual and auto marking capabilities."
— In-game description


The Recon Drone returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II as a Field Upgrade and functions similarly to its previous iteration.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III[]

"Remote-controlled drone that has manual and auto marking capabilities."
— In-game description


The Recon Drone returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III as a Field Upgrade and functions similarly to its previous iteration.

Trivia[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

  • After the Title Update on November 24, when holding the Recon Drone the player would get instructions on launching it.
  • Recon Drones can tag enemy SAM Turrets, Sentry Guns, and Remote Sentries.
    • The Recon Drone can also tag enemy Reapers, even though they are already displayed on the minimap when they are deployed.
    • Recon Drones can also tag enemy UAVs and Counter-UAVs which will show up as a pulse from outside the map on the player's team's map. The player will not receive any XP for this.
  • Running into the Recon Drone instantly destroys it.
  • Before launching the Recon Drone, the player has the Recon Drone on their hand in first person. In third-person, they will appear to be holding a laptop.
  • It is possible to score a kill with Recon Drone, as seen here.

References[]

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