Lockheed Martin RQ-170

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Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel
Computer graphics of an RQ-170
Computer graphics of an RQ-170
Type: Stealth caps - reconnaissance drone
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Martin

Commissioning:

in action

Number of pieces:

~ 20

3-sided view

The Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel is an unmanned aerial vehicle of the United States Air Force , which has various features of stealth technology . After the first usable photo was published on December 1, 2009, the United States Department of Defense officially confirmed the existence of the machine four days later .

History and Development

The development of the RQ-170 began in 2004 when DARPA placed the order for the development of a stealth drone and made a billion dollars available for it. The Lockheed Advanced Development Projects Unit , also known as “Skunk Works”, then began developing three prototypes.

The drone is used for reconnaissance missions at low to medium altitudes with relatively high air surveillance. The designation as RQ-170 indicates that the Sentinel is unarmed, since armed unmanned aerial vehicles of the American armed forces have always been given the designation "MQ" ("M" for multimission ). Probably for reasons of obfuscation, the number "170" is outside the previously used sequence, similar to the method chosen for the F-117 , where a number and type designation (F- instead of A-) that did not match the current designation scheme was selected.

technology

The drone is a flying wing with a wingspan of approx. 20 m. A jet engine serves as the drive ; the air inlet is on the top of the fuselage. It has a three-point chassis.

The drone can presumably be controlled in different ways, in addition to manual control via HF data transmission, a fully automatic mode is also possible, in which the RQ-170 probably uses an inertial navigation system and GPS analysis to navigate to specified waypoints.

As a result of the blown espionage operation in Iran, it became known that the RQ-170 has a video recording system. It is very likely that it can be equipped with different sensors depending on the mission.

Calls

The RQ-170 is used by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron , based at the Tonopah Test Range , Nevada , and the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron (Creech AFB Nevada). Both squadrons belong to the 432nd Wing , which is subordinate to the Air Combat Command . The drone has probably been used in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom since 2007 . The missions are flown from Kandahar International Airport.

Afghanistan and Pakistan

The use of this drone, which the press also calls The Beast of Kandahar , became known when it was used to spy out the hiding place of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Iran

The loss of an RQ-170 over Iran made it public that the US was using these drones to spy on Iranian facilities and violate Iranian airspace. On December 4, 2011, according to the Iranian state TV broadcaster al-Alam, one of these drones was "shot down" by the Iranian armed forces in eastern Iran. ISAF confirmed the loss of a drone "flying a mission over western Afghanistan" but denied that it was shot down. According to the Arab news channel Al Jazeera , the drone is said to have landed after an Iranian special unit for electronic warfare "electronically kidnapped" the drone and took control of the aircraft. According to an engineer working for the Iranian military, a GPS jammer was used for this. On December 8, 2011, pictures of the externally undamaged drone were published on Iranian state television. Whether the model shown is a "real" Lockheed Martin RQ-170 drone was initially controversial. On December 12, 2011, Barack Obama officially confirmed the loss of an RQ-170 drone and asked Iran to return it. Shortly afterwards, Iran announced that it would first analyze the aircraft's technology using reverse engineering and then copy it. According to the Iranian Brigadier General Amir Ali Hadschisadeh, the radio link for control signals to the drone was disrupted and at the same time a GPS jammer was used to simulate a wrong GPS position. The drone's on-board computer went on autopilot and flew to its (pretended) base. Quote: "It then landed on its own". An Iranian air force general informed on April 22, 2012 that the data from the control computer of this copy had been decrypted and gave data about transfers of the drone. On February 7, 2013, the Iranian military released parts of the video footage recorded by the drone.

According to their own statements, the Iranians developed their own drone based on the RQ-170 in 2014, which they named "Saeqeh" ( thunder ). A drone of the type apparently entered Israeli airspace on February 10, 2018 and was shot down. On March 13, 2019, more than 50 of the replicas were tested in military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.

Web links

Commons : Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

url = https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35094/rq-170-sentinel-stealth-spy-drone-photographed-landing-at-plant-42-in-palmdale

Individual evidence

  1. David Ax: 7 Secret Ways America's Stealth Armada Stays Off the Radar . In: Danger Room , December 13, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012. 
  2. Un drone mystérieux à Kandahar… Secret Défense, December 1, 2009, accessed December 4, 2011 (French).
  3. New stealth jet. Spiegel Online, December 6, 2009, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  4. Pentagon has a new phantom plane built. Spiegel Online, August 24, 2004, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  5. a b U.S. Air Force Reveals Operational Stealth UAV. Aviation Week, December 4, 2009, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  6. United States Air Force Air Power Yearbook 2018, p. 96
  7. Weapons: "Ambassadors of Death". Spiegel Online, October 17, 2011, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  8. Iran reports downing of US drone. Spiegel Online, December 4, 2011, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  9. Crash over Iran: USA admits loss of drone. Spiegel Online, December 4, 2011, accessed December 5, 2011 .
  10. Iran military 'downs US drone'. Iranian media reports US spy plane taken down virtually whilst flying over eastern Iran. Al Jazeera, December 4, 2011, accessed December 4, 2011 .
  11. Iranian engineer: "US drone hijacked via GPS interference"
  12. Lost US Drone - Iran Presents the Beast of Kandahar. Spiegel Online, December 9, 2011, accessed December 9, 2011 .
  13. Spiegel.de from December 9, 2011 Beast of Kandahar under suspicion of paper mache (accessed December 9, 2011)
  14. tagesschau.de: Iran does not want to return the US drone. Archived from the original on December 14, 2011 ; Retrieved December 14, 2011 .
  15. US appeal to Iran. Obama calls back drone. Spiegel Online, December 12, 2011, accessed December 14, 2011 .
  16. Intercepted US drone. That's how valuable Iran's loot is. Spiegel Online, December 16, 2011, accessed December 16, 2011 .
  17. Spy plane: Iran is said to have captured US drone with GPS manipulation. Spiegel Online, December 19, 2011, accessed December 25, 2011 .
  18. Exclusive: Iran hijacked US drone, says Iranian engineer (video). Cristian Science Monitor, December 15, 2011, accessed December 15, 2011 .
  19. http://orf.at/#/stories/2116634/ Iran allegedly decrypted data from US drones, news.ORF.at from April 22, 2012, accessed April 22, 2012
  20. Spiegel Online: Disgrace for the American military: Iran publishes videos from captured US drones. Retrieved February 7, 2013 .
  21. ^ Judah Ari Gross: "Iranian UAV that entered Israeli airspace seems to be American stealth knock-off" Times of Israel of February 10, 2018
  22. Iran tests combat drones during maneuvers in the Gulf