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Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel

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RQ-170 Sentinel
Artist's rendering
Role Unmanned aerial vehicle
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin
Introduction 2007
Primary user United States Air Force

The RQ-170 Sentinel, nick-named the The Beast of Kandahar, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) for the Central Intelligence Agency. 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 reconnaissance equipment.

RQ-170s have been reported as having operated in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. It has been confirmed that the UAVs have operated over Pakistan and Iran; operations over Pakistan included sorties which collected some of the intelligence which led to the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. In December 2011, Iranian armed forces claimed to have hacked and captured a RQ-170 flying over their country. The US military has acknowledged losing a RQ-170 in the region but has yet to publicly acknowledge that the UAV shown on Iranian television is the missing American drone. However, according to CBS News, US officials have confirmed in private, the authenticity of the drone shown by the Iranians. It has also been reported that RQ-170s have been deployed to South Korea to undertake trials ahead of possible operations over or near North Korea.

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.[1][2] It is a tail-less 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 approximately 65 feet (20 m)[3] to 90 feet (27 m).[4]

The "RQ" designation indicates that the RQ-170 Sentinel does not carry weapons.[5] Aviation Week's David A. Fulghum believes that the UAV is probably a "tactical, operations-oriented platform and not a strategic intelligence-gathering design".[3]

The USAF confirmed the "grainy photos of a gray, flying-wing-typed unmanned airplane near Kandahar Airfield"[6] 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.[3][7] 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 currently in service.[8] As of May 2011, the US Military had not released any statements concerning the Sentinel since December 2009.[9]

Design

The RQ-170 has a flying wing design containing a single (as yet unknown) engine and is estimated by Aviation Week as being approximately 66 feet in wingspan.[10] Its takeoff weight is estimated as being greater than the RQ-3 DarkStar's, which was 8,500 pounds. The design lacks several elements common to stealth engineering, namely notched landing gear doors and sharp leading edges. It has a curved wing planform, and the exhaust is not shielded by the wing.[10] 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.[10] The publication also suggests that the medium-grey colour, implies a mid-altitude ceiling, unlikely to exceed 50,000 feet since a higher ceiling would normally be painted darker for best concealment.[10] The postulated weight and ceiling parameters suggests the possible use of a General Electric TF34 engine, or a variant in the airframe.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

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 meters, a height of 1.84 meters, and a length of 4.5 meters.[13]

Operational history

External images
image icon An RQ-170 Sentinel operating over Afghanistan[3]
image icon Left view of a taxiing Sentinel[14]
image icon Rear view of a Sentinel[4]
image icon Taxiing

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.[3] This sighting, and the Sentinel's secret status at the time, led Bill Sweetman to dub it the "Beast of Kandahar".[15] 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.[16][17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

In August 2010 it was 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.[20] 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 the night of 1/2 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.[21] 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".[22]

Possible seizure by Iran

Main article: United states unmanned aerial vehicle seizure by Iran
File:RQ-170 in Iran.png
RQ-170 captured in Iran

For months prior to December 2011, there were reports that RQ-170s had been flying missions over Iran during 2011.[23][12] On 4 December, media reports stated that the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit[24][25][26][27] had downed an RQ-170 that violated Iranian airspace along its eastern border through overriding its controls, and had captured the lightly damaged wreckage of the UAV.[28] The Department of Defense released a statement acknowledging that it had lost control of a UAV during the previous week, claiming that it was "flying a mission over western Afghanistan" when control was lost. The statement did not specify the model of the aircraft. The U.S. government also stated that it was still investigating the cause of the loss.[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 an alleged captured RQ-170 on December 8.[31] The drone appeared to be largely intact, except for minor damage on its left wing. Dan Goure, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, stated the largely intact airframe ruled out the possibility of an engine or navigational malfunction: "Either this was a cyber/electronic warfare attack system that brought the system down or it was a glitch in the command-and-control system".[32] On December 8, a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post that the U.S. cannot be certain the drone shown was real because the U.S. does not have access to it, but also stated that "We have no indication that it was brought down by hostile fire."[29] A second senior U.S. military official said that a major question is how the drone could have remained "virtually intact," given the high altitude at which it is thought to have crashed. U.S. Navy Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told a news conference on December 8 that Pentagon analysts were examining the video.[33] Later that day, CBS reported that US officials have confirmed in private that the drone displayed by the Iranians is genuine.[34]

John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org told CNN that the video images that the aircraft did not look the way he would expect it to look after a crash. However, military aviation expert Bill Sweetman told CNN he believed that the drone displayed was real. Sweetman stated that it was most likely that the Iranians did not shoot down the plane (citing the lack of burn marks, holes, or outward damage), or hack into the system. Instead, Sweetman speculated on CNN that a system failure downed the plane, and that the plane could be intact from a what is known as a "flat spin" or "falling leaf departure," which would result in damage to the belly of the aircraft but little damage to other components. Sweetman noted a dent along the leading edge of the aircraft, noting that "The question is did that happen in the accident or whether they took them off to move the aircraft."[33]

On December 9, Iran lodged a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council over the UAV entering its air space. The New York Times reported that the complaint "appeared to have been made more for its propaganda value than for any Iranian hope of Security Council action" and that it was "highly unlikely that the Council would punish the United States, one of the five permanent members with veto power".[35]

Operators

United States

Specifications (RQ-170)

Data from [36]

General characteristics

Performance

  • Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m) (estimated)

References

  1. ^ Fulghum, David A. (8 December 2009). "RQ-170 Has Links to Intelligence Loss to China". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  2. ^ "Mystery UAV operation in Afghanistan". UV Online. 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fulghum, David A. (4 December 2009). "U.S. Air Force Reveals Operational Stealth UAV". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b Sweetman, Bill (11 November 2009). "Another Beast Picture". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  5. ^ "RQ-170 Sentinel "Beast of Kandahar"". Defence Aviation. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  6. ^ Tirpak, John A., Executive Editor (February 2010). "Washington Watch: Stealth Messenger". AIR FORCE MAGAZINE, Journal of the Air Force Association. 93 (2). Air Force Association: p.6. ISSN: 0730-6784. Retrieved 2 February 2010. {{cite journal}}: |first= has generic name (help); |page= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Fulghum, David A. (4 December 2009). "USAF Confirms Stealthy UAV Operations". Aviationweek.com. Aviation Week. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  8. ^ Trimble, Stephen (10 December 2009). "RQ-170 not intended to replace Predators and Reapers". International. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  9. ^ Drew, Christopher (5 May). "Attack on Bin Laden Used Stealthy Helicopter That Had Been a Secret". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d e f Fulghum, David A. (14 December 2009). "Stealth over Afghanistan". Aviation Week. McGraw-Hill: 26–27. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Sweetman, Bill (25 January 2011). "The Beast is Back". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  12. ^ a b Shane, Scott (7 December 2011). "Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret U.S. Surveillance Effort". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ Merchet, Jean-Dominique. "L'US Air Force dévoile son drone secret : c'est un RQ-170 Sentinel !". Libération. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  15. ^ Hambling, David (8 December 2009). "Mysteries Surround Afghanistan's Stealth Drone". Danger Room. Wired. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  16. ^ "US Air Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone". Asiaone. Agence France-Presse. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  17. ^ Hoffman, Michael, "Unveiling the ‘Beast of Kandahar’", Military Times, 23 December 2009.
  18. ^ "U.S. to base new unmanned spy plane in Korea". JoongAng Daily. 19 December 2009.
  19. ^ Sweetman, Bill (16 February 2010). "Beast Sighted In Korea". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  20. ^ Fulghum, David A. (8 December 2009). "Beast of Kandahar Is Back in Action". Ares. Aviation Week. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  21. ^ Miller, Greg (18 May 2011). "CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  22. ^ 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. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  23. ^ Sanger, David E. (4 December 2011). "Explosion Seen as Big Setback to Iran's Missile Program". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Iran airs footage of downed US drone". Press TV. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  25. ^ "'Iran military landed US spy drone'". Press TV. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  26. ^ "US maintains silence on downed drone". Press TV. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  27. ^ "Iran military downs US spy drone". Press TV. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  28. ^ "Iran shows film of captured US drone". BBC News. 8 December 2011.
  29. ^ a b Jaffe, Greg (5 December 2011). "Iran says it downed U.S. stealth drone; Pentagon acknowledges aircraft downing". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 December 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "After drone was lost, CIA tried a head fake". The Washington Post. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  31. ^ "Iran Captures a U.S. Stealth Drone Intact". 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  32. ^ Dave Majumdar (9 December 2011). "Iran's captured RQ-170: How bad is the damage?". Air Force Times.
  33. ^ a b "U.S. officials, analysts differ on whether drone in Iran TV video is real]". CNN. 8 December 2011.
  34. ^ [2]
  35. ^ Gladstone, Rick (9 December 2011). "Iran Complains to Security Council About Spy Drone". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  36. ^ Daily Telegraph"Iran shows off captured US drone". The Telegraph UK. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
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