RQ-170 Sentinel - ( English sentinel - observer, watchmaker) unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV ), created using Stealth technology on the principle of a flying wing . The letter “R” in the name of the device means that it is intended for reconnaissance (R - Reconnaissance), and “Q” means “unmanned vehicle” [1] .
| RQ-170 Sentinel | |
|---|---|
 Figure RQ-170 | |
| Type of | UAV |
| Developer | Skunk works |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed martin |
| Start of operation | 2007 |
| Status | operated by |
| Operators |  US Air Force |
Content
History
UAV developed by Skunk works - a division of Lockheed Martin . There is little open information about the device, it is known that sensor sensors are built into the wing, whose span is about 20 meters.
On December 4, 2009, the US Air Force confirmed the existence of a new reconnaissance UAV [2] .
RQ-170 Sentinel is a secret development, its main technical characteristics are still unknown. It is only known that these UAVs are more complex and less noticeable in different wavelengths due to the special non-metallic coating, in comparison with the more well-known UAVs “Predator”. This development, according to The Washington Post , costs $ 6 million.
Operation
- US Air Force - more than 10 units as of 2018 [3]
- Air combat command
- Mopon , Nevada Test Site
- 30th U.S. Air Force Reconnaissance Squadron
- Mopon , Nevada Test Site
- Air combat command
Application
- The RQ-170 was first spotted at an Afghan base in Kandahar in 2007 . The devices were used, among other things, to monitor Osama bin Laden's asylum in Abbottabad before and during the operation of the American special forces to eliminate the leader of al-Qaeda [4] .
Incident in Iran
On December 4, 2011, one RQ-170 Sentinel disappeared in western Afghanistan . According to the Pentagon, the device was lost communication, the reasons for which at the time of the message were unclear [4] . According to the Iranian authorities, the apparatus was shot down, although a US representative denied this information [5] . After some time, rumors appeared in the press that the American UAV was intercepted by electronic intelligence equipment delivered to Iran by Russia [6] , however, as it turned out later, the Russian army as of mid-2012 did not have the technical means to carry out such a task - during the exercises in the Astrakhan region , EW troops could not cope with the task of suppressing the GPS signal, while it was noted that in Russia generally lacks equipment with which it is possible to give a false signal to the positioning system [7] .
December 9, 2011 on Iranian television were shown frames RQ-170 Sentinel, without visible damage [8] .
On December 12, 2011, US President Barack Obama turned to the Iranian authorities with a request to return the car, but a representative of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced his refusal [9] . Then Iran announced plans to create its own analogue of the American UAV by copying the device and starting its mass production, emphasizing separately that Iranian development will exceed the original model by flight-technical parameters [10] .
In April 2012, General Amir Ali Hajizade, the head of the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that Iranian experts had fully studied the design of the drone and began to create an exact copy, but US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta questioned this news [11] .
Notes
- ↑ A Short Primer on Military Aircraft Designations . Hill Aerospace Museum. Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ USAF Confirms New Secret Stealth Plane . Gizmodo (December 4, 2009). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2018, p. 56
- ↑ 1 2 Iran claims to have been shot down by an American drone . BBC: Russian News Service (December 5, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Alexander Pakhomov. Iran did not shoot down an American drone . ITAR-TASS (December 14, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Victor Savenkov. "Kandahar beast" landed our "Auto Base"? . Free Press (December 12, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ EW troops lost the fight GPS . Izvestia (September 28, 2012). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Iran’s hands are almost unharmed by an American invisible drone . ITAR-TASS (December 9, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Iran did not return the drone to the United States . Izvestia (December 13, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Konstantin Kazeev. Iran will establish its own production of analogues of American UAVs . ITAR-TASS (December 12, 2011). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.
- ↑ Andrei Surzhansky. The US Secretary of Defense questioned the Iranian claim to create a copy of the American drone . ITAR-TASS (April 23, 2012). Date of treatment September 28, 2012. Archived October 25, 2012.