Who is flying the stealth unmanned aircraft called the beast of kandahar?”
The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the “Beast of Kandahar,” a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy. The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed “to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces,” the air force said in a brief statement. The “RQ” prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the “MQ” designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs. Aviation experts dubbed the drone the “Beast of Kandahar” after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007. The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber. A blog in the French newspaper Liberation published another photo this week, feeding speculation among aviation watchers about the classified drone.
This from Aviation Week: New York, NY – December 4, 2009 – “The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to Aviation Week the existence of the so-called “Beast of Kandahar” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a stealth-like, remotely piloted jet seen flying out of Afghanistan in late 2007,” AVIATION WEEK today exclusively reported about Lockheed Martin’s RQ-170 Sentinel moments ago on its website, http://aviationweek.com. The RQ-170 Sentinel, believed to be a tailless flying wing design with sensor pods faired into the upper surface of each wing, was developed by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), better known as Skunk Works. An Air Force official revealed Dec. 4 that the service is “developing a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces.” The UAV had been discussed on the Ares technology blog, as well as elsewhere online, but the USAF statement to
The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the “Beast of Kandahar,” a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy. The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed “to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces,” the air force said in a brief statement. The “RQ” prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the “MQ” designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs. Aviation experts dubbed the drone the “Beast of Kandahar” after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007. The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber.
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