Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel

The Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While the USAF has released few details on the UAV's design or capabilities, defense analysts believe that it is a stealth aircraft fitted with aerial reconnaissance equipment. Some images and details on the aircraft were released after Iran captured a RQ-170 in 2011.

RQ-170 Sentinel
Artist's rendering
Role Unmanned aerial vehicle
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin
Introduction 2007
Status In service
Primary user United States Air Force
Number built ~20[1]

Development

The RQ-170 Sentinel was developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works as a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Journalists have noted design similarities between the RQ-170 and previous stealth and UAV programs such as the RQ-3 DarkStar and Polecat.[2][3] It is a tailless flying wing aircraft, with pods, presumably for sensors or SATCOMs, built into the upper surface of each wing. Few details of the UAV's characteristics have been released, but estimates of its wingspan range from 38 feet (11.5m) to 90 feet (27 m).[4][5][6] In a December 2012 report, journalist David Axe stated that "20 or so" RQ-170s had been built.[1]

The "RQ" designation indicates that the RQ-170 Sentinel does not carry weapons.[7] Aviation Week's David A. Fulghum believes that the UAV is probably a "tactical, operations-oriented platform and not a strategic intelligence-gathering design".[5]

The USAF confirmed the "grainy photos of a gray, flying-wing-typed unmanned airplane near Kandahar Airfield."[8] Since then, this aircraft has been known as "The Beast of Kandahar" in relation to the discussion of the RQ-170 Sentinel on 4 December 2009.[5][9] A USAF colonel subsequently commented that RQ-170 is separate from the MQ-X program, which has yet to determine stealth or powerplant requirements, and thus the Sentinel will not replace the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones.[10] As of May 2011, the U.S. military had not released any statements concerning the Sentinel since December 2009.[11]

Design

The RQ-170 is a flying wing design containing a single (as yet classified) engine and was estimated in 2009 by Aviation Week as having a wingspan of approximately 66 feet (20 m).[12] Its takeoff weight is estimated as being greater than the RQ-3 DarkStar's, which was 8,500 pounds (3,900 kg). The design lacks several elements common to stealth engineering such as zig-zag edged landing gear doors and sharp leading edges, and the exhaust is not shielded by the wing.[12] Aviation Week postulates that these elements suggest the designers have avoided 'highly sensitive technologies' due to the near certainty of eventual operational loss inherent with a single engine design and a desire to avoid the risk of compromising leading edge technology.[12] The publication also suggests that the medium-grey color implies a mid-altitude ceiling, unlikely to exceed 50,000 feet (15,000 m) since a higher ceiling would normally be painted darker for best concealment.[12] The postulated weight and ceiling parameters suggests the possible use of a General Electric TF34 engine, or a variant, in the airframe.[12]

US Army recognition drawings of the RQ-170

On the basis of the few publicly available photographs of the RQ-170, aviation expert Bill Sweetman has assessed that the UAV is equipped with an electro-optical/infrared sensor and possibly an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar mounted in its belly fairing. He has also speculated that the two undercarriage fairings over the UAV's wings may house datalinks and that the belly fairing could be designed for modular payloads, allowing the UAV to be used for strike missions and/or electronic warfare.[13] The New York Times has reported that the RQ-170 is "almost certainly" equipped with communications intercept equipment as well as highly sensitive sensors capable of detecting very small amounts of radioactive isotopes and chemicals which may indicate the existence of nuclear weapons facilities.[14]

Following Iranian claims of downing an RQ-170 near the Afghan border in December 2011, Iranian TV showed video footage of what appears to be an advanced unmanned U.S. aircraft that most closely resembles the RQ-170 UAV. In the footage, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard released dimensions of the aircraft, including a wingspan of about 26 metres (85 ft), a height of 1.84 metres (6.0 ft), and a length of 4.5 metres (15 ft).[15]

Operational history
An undated USAF photograph of a RQ-170 at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam

The 30th Reconnaissance Squadron operates RQ-170 Sentinels. This squadron, which is based at Tonopah Test Range Airport in Nevada, was activated on 1 September 2005. RQ-170 Sentinels have been deployed to Afghanistan, where one was sighted at Kandahar International Airport in late 2007.[5] This sighting, and the Sentinel's secret status at the time, led Bill Sweetman to dub it the "Beast of Kandahar".[16] The UAV being deployed to Afghanistan, despite the Taliban having no radar, led to speculation that the aircraft was used to spy on Pakistan or Iran: "Phil Finnegan, a UAV analyst at the Teal Group, an aerospace consulting firm, suggests the stealth capabilities are being used to fly in nearby countries. Neighboring Iran has an air force and air defense system that would require stealth technology to penetrate."[17][18]

In December 2009, South Korea's JoongAng Daily newspaper reported that the RQ-170 Sentinel had been test-flown in South Korea for the past few months and that it was expected that they would be permanently deployed in 2010 to replace Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft operating from Osan Air Base.[19] In response to this report, Bill Sweetman argued that the Sentinel's deployments to Afghanistan and South Korea were probably undertaken to monitor Pakistan and North Korea's ballistic missile programs.[20]

In August 2010, Aviation Week reported that RQ-170s either had been or were about to be redeployed to Afghanistan and that the UAVs had been fitted with a full motion video capability.[21] The missions performed by these aircraft included flying dozens of high-altitude sorties over Pakistan to monitor a compound in the town of Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was believed to be living. On 2 May 2011, at least one RQ-170 monitored the area while elements of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group launched an assault on the compound which resulted in bin Laden's death. The aircraft provided footage of the attack which was watched live by President Barack Obama and his senior national security advisors. The RQ-170 also monitored Pakistani military radio transmissions in the area to provide warning of the response to the attack.[22] On 27 May the Los Angeles Times reported that Pakistani officials were "alarmed" by the use of the RQ-170 over their country as the drones are "designed to evade radar and other surveillance systems, and can be used as a spy plane".[23]

In October 2012 a RQ-170 was used to conduct bomb damage assessment for a test drop of a Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb from a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.[24]

Iranian capture and reverse engineering claims
Main article: Iran–U.S. RQ-170 incident
The American built RQ-170 in Iran.

On 4 December 2011, media reports stated that the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit[25][26][27][28] had downed an RQ-170 that violated Iranian airspace along its eastern border through overriding its controls, and had captured the lightly damaged UAV.[29] On 6 December, U.S. officials acknowledged that a drone crashed in or near Iranian airspace and that it belonged to the CIA and not to ISAF as was earlier stated.[30]

The Iranian government released footage of a captured RQ-170 on 8 December.[31] After examining the video on 8 December, U.S. officials confirmed that the drone was genuine.[32][33] In April 2012, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace division, claimed that Iran had reverse-engineered the RQ-170, and was building a copy of the UAV. He also stated that data was being recovered from the captured RQ-170.[34][35][36] The semi-official Tasnim news agency of Iran reported in September 2016 that a UAV named Saegheh, similar in appearance to the RQ-170 Sentinel, had been built. It was said to be able to carry four precision-guided bombs; range was not stated.[37]

Operators
United States

Specifications (RQ-170)

Data from

General characteristics

Performance

  • Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m) (estimated)[39]
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See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References
Notes
  1. Axe, David (13 December 2012). "7 Secret Ways America's Stealth Armada Stays Off the Radar". Wired. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  2. Fulghum, David A. (8 December 2009). "RQ-170 Has Links to Intelligence Loss to China". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  3. "Mystery UAV operation in Afghanistan". UV Online. 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  4. Rogoway, Tyler (5 June 2020). "Satellite Image Showing RQ-170 Sentinel Near MQ-9 Reaper Gives Us Best Size Estimate Yet". The Drive. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  5. Fulghum, David A. (4 December 2009). "U.S. Air Force Reveals Operational Stealth UAV". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  6. Sweetman, Bill (11 November 2009). "Another Beast Picture". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  7. "RQ-170 Sentinel 'Beast of Kandahar'". Defence Aviation. 26 December 2009. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  8. Tirpak, John A. (February 2010). "Washington Watch: Stealth skywriting; Watched by Gorgons; Stopping START? ..." Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. 93 (2): 6. ISSN 0730-6784. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  9. Fulghum, David A. (4 December 2009). "USAF Confirms Stealthy UAV Operations". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  10. Trimble, Stephen (10 December 2009). "RQ-170 not intended to replace Predators and Reapers". FlightGlobal. The DEW Line blog. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  11. Drew, Christopher (5 May 2011). "Attack on Bin Laden Used Stealthy Helicopter That Had Been a Secret". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  12. Fulghum, David A.; Bill Sweetman (14 December 2009). "Stealth over Afghanistan". Aviation Week. McGraw-Hill: 26–27.
  13. Sweetman, Bill (25 January 2011). "The Beast is Back". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  14. Shane, Scott; Sanger, David E. (7 December 2011). "Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret U.S. Surveillance Effort". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  15. "Iran shows film of captured US drone". BBC News. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  16. Hambling, David (8 December 2009). "Mysteries Surround Afghanistan's Stealth Drone". Wired. Archived from the original on 9 December 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  17. "US Air Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone". Asiaone. Agence France-Presse. 9 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  18. Hoffman, Michael, "Unveiling the 'Beast of Kandahar' Archived 4 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine", Military Times, 23 December 2009.
  19. "U.S. to base new unmanned spy plane in Korea". JoongAng Daily. 19 December 2009. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  20. Sweetman, Bill (16 February 2010). "Beast Sighted In Korea". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  21. Fulghum, David A. (8 December 2009). "Beast of Kandahar Is Back in Action". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 21 March 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  22. Miller, Greg (18 May 2011). "CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  23. Paul Richter, David S. Cloud and Alex Rodriguez (27 May 2011). "Angry Pakistan rejects U.S. appeal, plans to review drone campaign". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  24. Trevithick, Joseph (7 November 2014). "U.S. Stealth Drone Helped Test Huge Bomb". War is Boring. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  25. "Iran airs footage of downed US drone". Press TV. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  26. "'Iran military landed US spy drone'". Press TV. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  27. "US maintains silence on downed drone". Press TV. 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  28. "Iran military downs US spy drone". Press TV. 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  29. "Iran shows film of captured US drone". BBC News. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  30. Miller, Greg (6 December 2011). "After drone was lost, CIA tried a head fake". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  31. "Iran Captures a U.S. Stealth Drone Intact". 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  32. "U.S. officials, analysts differ on whether drone in Iran TV video is real". CNN. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  33. Orr, Bob (8 December 2011). "U.S. official: Iran does have our drone". CBS News. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  34. "Iran Says It Is Building Copy of Captured US Drone". The New York Times. Associated Press. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  35. "Iranians Say They Took Secret Data From Drone". The New York Times. 22 April 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  36. Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine. FarsNews, 22 September 2013.
  37. "Iran builds attack drone similar to captured US model, local media say". The Guardian. 2 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  38. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/33907/satellite-image-showing-rq-170-sentinel-near-mq-9-reaper-gives-us-best-size-estimate-yet
  39. Daily Telegraph"Iran shows off captured US drone". The Telegraph. London. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

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