RQ-180 – The Air Force’s Newest Stealth Drone
Earlier today it was reported by Aviation Week that the RQ-180 is allegedly flying test flights.
The classified unmanned aerial vehicle is being developed by Northrop Grumman for “. . . intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.” Operated by the U.S. Air Force, the RQ-180 will also carry out missions for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
As one would expect with this being a classified aircraft, right now the details are few and far between. Based on the artist’s drawings, the RQ-180 looks like a smaller version of the B-2 Spirit flying wing stealth bomber still in use by the U.S. Air Force. Allegedly the RQ-180 has a wingspan of around 130 feet while the B-2’s wingspan reaches 172 feet. While the B-2 Spirit carries a crew of two and a payload of up to 50,000 pounds of ordnance or other equipment, the RQ-180 is unmanned and rumored to only being developed for intelligence and reconnaissance missions.
The RQ-180 is scheduled to be in production soon and could be operational just a year from now in 2015.
Could a drone such as the RQ-180 be modified and used for stealth bombing missions? It wouldn’t surprise me at all. Then again, it looks like Northrop Grumman is already focusing on building a bomber version of the RQ-180 drone out of the X-47 project.
The B-2 Spirit is a Northrop Grumman project, and that company is also developing the X-47, an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). Earlier this year the X-47B was in the news as the unmanned aerial vehicle was conducting flight tests on the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) aircraft carrier. Just last month more aircraft carrier flight operations were tested on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) aircraft carrier.
X-47B catapult takeoff followed by touch & go landings on USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77)
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B is being developed into the new Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system, which is scheduled to enter service five years from now in 2019.
In addition to the X-47B, Northrop Grumman is also developing the X-47C variant of the unmanned aerial combat vehicle. The X-47C is rumored to be a stealthier and significantly larger version of the X-47B. While the X-47B has a wingspan of 62 feet and a payload of 4,500 pounds, the X-47C is rumored to have a wingspan of 172 feet and a payload of up to 10,000 pounds. The X-47C might enter production in 2018, but this may be delayed to take advantage of newer technology.
If those rumors are correct, the X-47C will be about the same size as the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, only unmanned and with a smaller payload.
It’s conceivable that the RQ-180 and X-47C are two similar but different unmanned stealth aircraft being built for two different purposes. While the RQ-180 is being developed for surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance, and also being used as a flying platform to monitor and communicate with other elements, the X-47C could be there to handle the actual strike part of the mission. The X-47C could be used for dangerous missions that require stealth, long-range, and objectives deemed too dangerous for American pilots.
Or, since its unmanned, the X-47C could be used for more covert operations, places where you would not want a downed American airman to be captured, such as Iran or North Korea.
It’s both fascinating and eerie following the progress of unmanned aerial vehicles. Like it or not, but UAVs are the future of combat and reconnaissance aircraft in the U.S. military.
But this is the Internet Age.
This is a time period where hackers are able to use their skills (and sometimes help on the inside) to gain access to the world’s most secure servers.
What happens if the UAV squadrons get hacked or otherwise compromised? Could a hacker sitting at a computer thousands of miles away actually gain control of unmanned combat aircraft?