Drones

 

Meet the U.S. Air Force’s Stealth Drone: RQ-3 DarkStar

Earlier this year, the United States Air Force announced that it would cut the fleet of its Global Hawk spy drones, likely as it was opting to adopt the stealthy RQ-180, a stealthy, flying-wing surveillance drone that reportedly entered service back in 2017. The service has never officially acknowledged the existence of the Northrop Grumman-produced RQ-180, which is believed to have first flown in 2010, and which may have been deployed near China last month.

However, while a few details are known about the flying wing platform, it isn’t the first stealth drone employed by the Air Force.

A DarkStar is Born

Nearly twenty five years ago the RQ-3 DarkStar took its first flight, but a year later the first prototype crashed during its second flight and not in the “going down in a blaze of glory” kind of way. It was more of a suggestion that the bugs had to be worked on the highly-advanced, stealthy reconnaissance remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

Developed under the Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System (AARS) program, the RQ-3 was designed to operate in high-threat environments, the aircraft incorporated stealth aircraft technology that could allow it operate within highly defended airspace.