Aviation Week Defence Technology Edition freebie (with a photo of the road to "I can"t say" on th

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I'm have to say if you follow black projects and what used to be called the Global War on Terror, then there isn't a whole lot new in here. And Bill Sweetman's photos are very old. Still, it is interesting reading.

I never saw an unmarked Predator, but I always assumed the CIA versions were unmarked or had fake markings. Now you have to presume the CIA drones were marked at one point in their lifetime, if only so they could fly them around the Mojave legally as part of qualification prior to sale. Of the CIA just takes USAF drones and paints over the numbers. If that were the case, then it would be possible to find out which tail numbers are missing.

The article states the CIA drones fly out of the same facilities as the USAF uses. Again something I suspected, but was nice to see in writing.

reply to post by gariac


Hey,

I really enjoyed that link, thanks. I especially liked seeing the advertisement for Heron TP. Really good find, thanks again.

reply to post by Xoanon


These first generation drones all seem to have the same basic bulge in the front. [That IAI drone looks like a Predator from the front.] That is where the satellite dish is held. But the stealthy ones seem to get around that need. What is also interesting is these stealthy looking UAVs have swept swings, but for low speed, straight wings are supposed to be better. Maybe the RQ-170 can't fly as slow as a Predator.

when are we going to see drone hunters shooting down other drones.

thats the best kind of warfare, no body gets killed.

Originally posted by gariac
reply to post by Xoanon

 

These first generation drones all seem to have the same basic bulge in the front. [That IAI drone looks like a Predator from the front.] That is where the satellite dish is held. But the stealthy ones seem to get around that need. What is also interesting is these stealthy looking UAVs have swept swings, but for low speed, straight wings are supposed to be better. Maybe the RQ-170 can't fly as slow as a Predator.

Yup, it's a straight lift vs drag tradeoff. At low speeds lift matters more, and high speeds you have plenty of lift and want to minimize drag. Note that since you don't have to put people in a tube, the flat triangle shape gives lots of lift without needing too much cross-section as seen from the front.

Given that the RQ-170 has a jet and a Predator has a prop, it is pretty certain that it has to fly faster (jets are too inefficient at slow speeds). Though the RQ-170 is pretty wide so it doesn't seem it would be optimized for that high speed operation.


One assumes the RQ-170 is used in less permissive air defense environments than a Predator, and so a jet is more advantageous. Also the sensors may be "faster" and able to get as much detail while going at a higher speed.