What’s it carbon footprint?/s
I can’t see it... no, wait, um, yes, there it is! I can see it!!!!!
Unarmed?
The Polecat was 2 engines this puppy is single.
Makes you wonder how many times that aircraft has been photographed and reported as an alien craft of some sort.
This wing can’t be the fabled “Aurora”, is it?
Looks a lot like the B-2. They still have neither confirmed nor denied the Aurora. I remember Popular Mechanics doing an article on that many years ago. The supposed replacement for the SR-71.
High altitude light colored and unarmed?
One of these doesn’t fit.
Unless it’s ARMED and low altitude.
The 30th Reconnaissance Squadron, which is based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, operates RQ-170 Sentinels. This squadron was activated on September 1, 2005. RQ-170 Sentinels have been deployed to Afghanistan, where one was sighted at Kandahar International Airport in late 2007.[1]
So, the Air Force can keep a secret when it wants to.
My understanding is that it does have an integral bomb bay. It could be unarmed only in the strictest sense —i.e. this copy contained no internal weapons store at the time of photo.
I think the F-22 will be the last of the high-ticket manned systems, or those that carry humans will do so only as an option.
Dang, that has to be the coolest job in the world. Uh,,, I volunteer to fly them for FREEEEE if anyone is reading this, NO PAY REQUIRED!!!!!!!!!!!
The great irony is that what the USAF needs right now is not high tech, but inexpensive, durable, expendable, low tech aircraft. Not to do the sexy, stealthy, futuristic missions, but just endless, routine ordinary stuff.
If you look at the US Army, you will see what I mean. For every fighting soldier, there are 15 support soldiers. For every Stryker, there are probably 30 trucks. And the same thing applies to the USAF.
For every high tech fighter aircraft, you need a large number of transports, cheap and durable bombers like the B-52, UAVs that do close air support and reconnaissance for thousands of hours where it doesn’t matter if the enemy sees them, even blimps that just sit there while doing half a dozen missions at the same time.
I would say that the biggest design mission of the Skunkworks should be to design both a replacement for the B-52 that is more efficient yet still low maintenance; and to design a UAV that costs about as much per unit as an economy car.
Bush's fault.
Why is it called “Skunk Works?”
“unmanned aircraft”,
“It’s unarmed”.
Not yet. I wonder what that will do with a couple of chain guns mounted fore and aft.