Secretive RQ-180 Stealth Spy Drone

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TinDumbass@reddit

Considering the manufacturer, I love that this is basically hopeless diamond part 2.

Didn't one of these get shot down in Iran during the last trump presidency? Or was that a 170?

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piginapokezzap@reddit

Could very well be the top secret Israel RA-01.

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

Unlikely, RA-01 has a different shape, and there would be no point for it to be operating out of Larissa, Greece, which also happens to be a well known American drone base.

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Conscious-Net9011@reddit

Same planform, same shape, same livery operating out of range of Iranian missiles and with a mainly water approach to Iran that avoids long overflights over neutral or potentially hostile countries.

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I thought so too and got in some arguments about it, but this has been pretty comprehensively disproven in reporting by Sandboxx. It’s almost certainly an RQ-180, and if not, at least definitely American.

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

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ConsciousPatroller@reddit

Damn, it's almost the size of a pigeon? Insane tech

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

Lol yeah,

In seriousness though, it's pretty big, around the same size as the B-21.

Here's an older comparison by Alex Hollings using old conceptual designs for the B-21 (see old intakes) and RQ-180 (cranked kite) but generally gets the size across.

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Imtherealwaffle@reddit

idk abt this. lots of speculation on the sensor visible in the photo (flush with the underside body kinda in the center). Looks a somewhat like a sensor scaled composites has been using on the proteus. Assuming its the same sensor (big if) then the wingspan would be closer to 80ft. but who knows

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

Yeah that why I added an edit yesterday, seems smaller than previously speculated, based on the landing gear, the Proteus sensor, etc. Still a big drone though

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Pperson25@reddit

Is that the one the Iranians hacked and stole in 2009?

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Adventurous_Front939@reddit

They took a downed RQ-170 in 2011 and back engineered it to create their modern Shahed series.

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EmergencyPool910@reddit

Maybe internals, but shaheds trace their lineage to German designs

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

I think he's referring specifically to the Shahed 191.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahed_191

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Adventurous_Front939@reddit

So shahed looks the same as 170 and they back engineered the internals. But the design is German?

Pretty sure you are just referencing the engine...

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EmergencyPool910@reddit

Shaheds and rq 170 look nothing alike

This was the german DAR project which is what shahed 136 was based on

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Adventurous_Front939@reddit

I should have refreshed my memory on how it looks feeling like a senior moment its genuinely so different then what I had stashed in the back of the brain.

You right sir, you right.

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

That's the RQ-170, smaller one you can see in top right of that diagram too.

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Pperson25@reddit

thank you

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I_AM_FERROUS_MAN@reddit

Seems like it would be a decent test bed for many of the design elements that went into the B-21.

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ScholarErrant@reddit

As a bonus, there was talk about the B-21 being optionally crewed at one point. I wouldn’t be surprised if the RQ-180 is, or at very least started as, the test platform for that very idea.

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I_AM_FERROUS_MAN@reddit

Yes. I believe it was a requirement during development. I imagine that they basically ported over much of the RQ-180s software.

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ScholarErrant@reddit

I’m thinking beyond that that the RQ-180 is, aside from the crew considerations, basically a B-21 that carries surveillance equipment rather than bombs. As a bonus to having a stealthy surveillance platform, it would have allowed for real world testing of the design before finalizing the bomber. It would also explain why the government was so secretive about its existence, only becoming a bit more lax right around the B-21 starts being observed doing refueling tests.

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ConsciousPatroller@reddit

That's honestly very interesting, I though it was roughly RQ-170 sized. Everytime I come across one of your posts I learn something new!

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liedel@reddit

The aviationweekly article from a decade ago says it's got the same wingspan as a 737

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saladmunch2@reddit

Ya i expected to to be much smaller also! Its actually huge.

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Hyperious3@reddit

is it meant to be a Global Hawk replacement, or the UCAV version of the B-21?

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

Replaced SR-71 sort of in terms of the ISR role (among other likely classified aircraft). Predates the B-21 by many years, and it is widely believed that the B-21 draws heavily from the RQ-180.

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Imtherealwaffle@reddit

that pigeon has a 100ft wingspan. darpa project

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peekdasneaks@reddit

Clearly the plane is at least 3 times bigger

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xerberos@reddit

Old tech: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_Aren%27t_Real

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workahol_@reddit

A bomber for ants.

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Weasel1Actual@reddit

Birds aren’t real!

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Ams4r@reddit

I guess the B-21 is the one on the left ? :D

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Babna_123@reddit

Yes

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Ams4r@reddit

Of course, why did I even ask ? B is for Bird !

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Kardinal@reddit

This is, what, the third and fourth photo ever of this aircraft?

Crazy how secret they have been able to keep it.

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Afrogthatribbits@reddit (OP)

It really is. Spotted a handful of times over remote desert like near Area 51, and once in the Pacific, then most recently these two or three times over Larissa in Greece the past couple weeks. Insane that they've been flying (allegedly) since at least 2010, with supposedly around a dozen of them.

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IncognitoAlt11@reddit

The F-117 was hidden pretty well from the Public for a while but the RQ-180 definitely wins the hide and seek game now.

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FormulaJAZ@reddit

One of the benefits of drones that doesn't get mentioned very often is that drones don't need to practice. An unknown stealth drone could be hidden in a bunker for 50 years, and it wouldn't need to break cover until it is used in combat.

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BlackFoxTom@reddit

I mean with modern simulators it also works that way pretty much and with designing aircraft

Pilots do the vast majority of training in the simulator and first prototype plane to roll off the production line is often also first to be used commercialy

Problem are the laws of physics. For example seals have 3 - 8 years of life by just existing.

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FormulaJAZ@reddit

If a stealth drone's entire lifespan is only 200 hours total, it can be designed much differently than an airframe like the B-2/F-22/F-35 that will rack up thousands of hours of practice missions to keep the human pilots proficient.

Survivability is also a very low priority for drones, so it doesn't really matter if aged seals leak a little. Keep all of the mechanical parts covered in thick storage oil for decades in a climate-controlled hangar, and fire it up for the first time when it is time for combat.

For drones, cheap, plentiful, and disposable is the name of the game, to the point that Iran's $30k drones are a major headache for the West in Ukraine and Iran.

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Bear__Fucker@reddit

I think you are confusing the RQ-180 with one-way Kamikaze drones. The RQ-180 is a surveillance drone, designed to loiter at high altitude for long periods of time. From what we know about it, it does not even carry munitions. It is also much larger than a Shahed drone; estimated to be almost comparable in size to a B-2.

Why would anyone be using a 50 year old drone in 2076? Cheap, plentiful, and disposable is not a solution for all drone situations.

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FormulaJAZ@reddit

Why would anyone be using a 50 year old drone in 2076?

How old are the U-2, B-52, C-130, B-1, A-10, and F-16?

Will a 50-year-old drone be relevant in 50 years? Yes, absolutely.

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Immediate-Spite-5905@reddit

U-2 is irrelevant, A-10 is irrelevant, the USAF stopped purchasing F-16s a while ago and the B-1 almost got retired as well, though it and the B-52 are serving well as bomb trucks because the idea of "big plane with big bomb bay" is immortal. the C-130 is the same, but with "short runway landing cargo plane".

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liedel@reddit

U-2 is irrelevant, A-10 is irrelevant

Lol two of the airframes with literally the most flight hours per aircraft of the last 30 years, used heavily in niche roles non-stop that only they could fill.

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Adorable-Apple2172@reddit

Not necessarily, relevancy changes over time, look at 1939 aircraft compared to 1945 aircraft

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ShakyBrainSurgeon@reddit

No wonder, the B-21 is on budget, this is basically an unmanned precursor to it.

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MK_Ultrex@reddit

What is this thing doing in Larissa?

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Bear__Fucker@reddit

A few weeks ago, one was caught on video landing there. I'm guessing it was either an emergency landing or it is being operated out of there due to the proximity of Iran.

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