AVWK: Details emerging on Beast Of Kandahar/RQ170 Sentinel.

Illustration by Gregory Lewis Aviation Week & Space Technology

Article by David A. Fulghum and Bill Sweetman

The U.S. has been flying a classified, stealthy, remotely piloted aircraft in Afghanistan. That single fact reveals the continued development of low-observable UAVs, hidden aspects of the surveillance buildup in Afghanistan, the footprint of an active “black aircraft world” that stretches to Southwest Asia, and links into the Pentagon’s next-generation recce bomber.

The mystery aircraft—once referred to as the Beast of Kandahar and now identified by the U.S. Air Force as a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works RQ-170 Sentinel—flew from Kandahar’s airport, where it was photographed at least twice in 2007. It shared a hangar with Predator and Reaper UAVs being used in combat operations. On Dec. 4, three days after declassification was requested, Aviation Week revealed the program on its web site. Like Predator and Reaper, the Sentinel is remotely piloted by aircrews—in this case the 30th Reconnaissance Sqdn. (RS) at Tonopah Test Range Airport in the northwest corner of the Nevada Test and Training Range.

The confirmation came the same week as the Air Force’s top intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) officer called for a new, stealth, jet-powered strike-reconnaissance aircraft that can meet the requirements of both irregular and conventional conflicts and strategic, peacetime information-gathering.

The demands of fighting an irregular war do not change the critical operational need for a stealthier, strategic-range, higher-payload, strike-reconnaissance aircraft, says Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR.

The battle will be to balance the way the military wants to fight in Afghanistan now against how it wants to fight elsewhere in the future. Air Force officials want to keep those two needs from becoming widely divergent points in geography, technology and operational techniques. For the next 18 months, about 150,000 U.S. and allied troops will try to break the offensive capabilities of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghan istan, and new technologies will be brought into play.

“Don’t get enamored with current conditions,” Deptula cautions. “We don’t know what the future will bring.” While operations in Afghanistan will be “more complex than ever,” the future is “not only going to be about irregular warfare.”

Beyond 2011, the Air Force’s first priority and the destination of the next dollar to be spent “if I were king for a day,” Deptula says, “would be for long-range [reconnaissance and] precision strike. That’s the number-one need.

“We cannot move into a future without a platform that allows [us] to project power long distances and to meet advanced threats in a fashion that gives us an advantage that no other nation has,” he notes. “We can’t walk away from that capability.”

A next-generation design would be equally important as a stealthy ISR platform to greatly extend—through speed, endurance and stealth—the capability produced by putting electro-optical and infrared sensor packets on the B-1 and B-52 bombers for precise attacks on fleeting targets in Southwest Asia.

Surveillance aircraft can see a lot more (farther and better) with long-wave infrared if the platform can operate at 50,000 ft. or higher. The RC-135S Cobra Ball, RC-135W Rivet Joint and E-8C Joint Stars are all limited to flying lower than 30,000 ft. Moreover, the multispectral technology to examine the chemical content of rocket plumes has been miniaturized to fit easily on a much smaller aircraft. Other sensors of interest are electronically scanned array radars, low-probability-of-intercept synthetic aperture radars and signals intelligence.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT AVWK

HIstory of 30th Reconnaissance Squadron (Beast of Kandahar handlers)

30th RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON (ACC)

Lineage. Constituted 30 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 5 Feb 1943. Redesignated 30 Photographic Squadron (Light) on 6 Feb 1943. Activated on 1 May 1943. Redesignated 30 Photo Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 Aug 1943. Inactivated on 7 Nov 1945. Redesignated 30 Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo, on 11 Mar 1947. Activated in the Reserve on 25 Jul 1947. Redesignated 30 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Electronics, on 27 Jun 1949. Ordered to Active Service on 1 May 1951. Inactivated on 16 May 1951. Redesignated 30 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night-Photo, on 15 Nov 1952. Activated on 1 Jan 1953. Redesignated: 30 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photo-Jet, on 8 Jan 1957; 30 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 Oct 1966. Inactivated on 1 Apr 1976. Redesignated 30 Reconnaissance Squadron on 17 Jun 2005. Activated on 1 Sep 2005.

Assignments. 7 Photographic (later, Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping) Group, 1 May 1943; Third Air Force, 21 Jun 1943; III Reconnaissance Command, 12 Oct 1943; Ninth Air Force, 4 Feb 1944; 10 Photographic Group, 21 Feb 1944 (attached to 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group after 9 Jun 1944); 67 Tactical Reconnaissance (later, Reconnaissance) Group, 13 Jun 1944-7 Nov 1945. 66 Reconnaissance (later, Strategic Reconnaissance) Group, 25 Jul 1947-16 May 1951. 66 Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 1 Jan 1953; 66 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 8 Dec 1957 (attached to 10 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing from 8 Jan 1958); 10 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 8 Mar 1958-1 Apr 1976. 57 Operations Group, 1 Sep 2005-.

Stations. Peterson AAFld, CO, 1 May 1943; Will Rogers Field, OK, 10 Oct 1943; Camp Kilmer, NJ, 3-17 Jan 1944; Chalgrove, England, 1 Feb 1944; Middle Wallop, England, 17 May 1944; Le Molay, France, 3 Jul 1944; Toussus Le Noble, France, 31 Aug 1944; Charleroi-Gosselies, Belgium, 22 Sep 1944 (operated from Florennes Juzaine, Belgium, 8-18 Dec 1944); Vogelsang, Germany, 24 Mar 1945; Limburg, Germany, 2 Apr 1945; Eschwege, Germany, 11 Apr-Jul 1945; Drew Field, Fla, 20 Sep-7 Nov 1945. Newark AAB, NJ, 25 Jul 1947; McGuire AFB, NJ, 27 Jun 1949; Barksdale AFB, LA, 10 Oct 1949-16 May 1951. Shaw AFB, SC, 1 Jan 1953; Sembach AB, Germany, 8 Jul 1953; Spangdahlem AB, Germany, 8 Jan 1958; RAF Station (later, RAF) Alconbury, England, 25 Aug 1959 (operated from Moron AB, Spain, 9 May-10 Jun 1968)-1 Apr 1976. Tonopah Test Range, NV, 1 Sep 2005-.

Commanders. 1Lt William D. Mitchell, 1 May 1943; Major Richard S. Leghorn, 21 Aug 1943; Lt Col William D. Mitchell, 23 Jul 1944; Unkn, Jul-Nov 1945. Unkn, Jul 1947-May1951. Lt Col Clason B. Saunders, by Mar 1953; Maj Oliver T. Hayes, Jr., 16 Nov 1953; Maj Harold E. Grant, 9 Jul 1956; Maj Warren A. Williams, 22 Jul 1957; Maj Robert L. Hopkins, Feb 1958; Lt Col Steven R. Wilkerson, 13 Dec 1958; Lt Col Chester B. Hackett, 12 Jul 1960; Maj Philip V. Howell Jr., 1 May 1961; Maj Richard J. Saile, 4 Jan 1963; Lt Col Delbert C. Hainley, 15 Jan 1964; Lt Col Austin C. Ayotte, 26 Jun 1966; Lt Col Frank M. Kelley, 10 Feb 1967; Lt Col Bill M. Davies, 11 May 1967; Lt Col Robert C. Caudry, 10 Aug 1970; Lt Col Norman P. Huggins, 27 Jul 1971; Lt Col Curtis L. Behrend, 15 Mar 1972; Lt Col Thomas J. Wicker, 31 Oct 1972; Lt Col Alexander M. Milligan IV, 22 Jul 1974-1 Apr 1976.

Aircraft. P-38/F-4, 1943; P-38/F-5, 1943-1945. RB-26, 1953-1955;
B/RB-57, 1955-1957; RB-66, 1957-1965; RF-4, 1965-1976.

Operations. Trained in U.S., May-Dec 1943. Began flying photo reconnaissance in ETO on 25 Feb 1944. Mapped 6,000 square miles of the Netherlands and flew bomb-damage assessment missions over marshalling yards and gun emplacements in Belgium, Holland, and France, in Apr 1944. Earned DUC for participation with 10th Photographic Group, 7-20 May 1944, in photo reconnaissance of Normandy invasion beaches. The citation read, in part: "Employing specially modified equipment installed in unarmed P-38 type aircraft, the intrepid pilots of the 10th Photographic Reconnaissance Group undertook the most hazardous missions. Flying unarmed and unescorted and at altitudes as low as twenty-five feet, they fearlessly piloted their aircraft over the difficult photographic runs in the face of intense fire from some of the strongest anti-aircraft installations in western Europe." Flew sorties over France on D-Day making visual and photographic reconnaissance of bridges, artillery, road and rail junctions, traffic centers, airfields, and other targets. Flew weather missions, made visual reconnaissance for ground forces, and photographed enemy positions to assist the First and Third Armies, Twelfth Army Group, and other Allied forces in the drive to Germany. Flew its first mission over Germany on 24 Aug 1944. Took part in the offensive against the Siegfried Line, Sep-Dec 1944, and in the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes-Alsace), Dec 1944-Jan 1945. From then until the close of the war in Europe, the squadron photographed dams and bridges on the Roer River in preparation for the ground offensive to cross the river, and aided the Allied assault across the Rhine River and into Germany. Flew its 2,000th operational mission on 22 Mar 1945. Flew missions to Berlin on 8 April and to Dresden on 10 Apr 1945. From 1947 to 1951, the squadron served as an Air Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel. Provided tactical reconnaissance for USAFE and NATO, 1953-1976.

Service Streamers. None.

Campaign Streamers. World War II: Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France, Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Air Combat, EAME Theater.

Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers. None.

Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citation: [7]-20 May 1944. Citation in the Order of the Day, Belgian Army, [10] Jun-[29] Sep 1944; [17] Dec 1944-25 Jan 1945. Belgian Fourragere. Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 31 Dec 1959-1 Jan 1962; 15 Jul 1968-15 Jul 1969; 1 Jun 1972-1 Jun 1973.

Lineage, Assignments, Stations, and Honors through 1 Sep 2005.

Commanders, Aircraft, and Operations through 30 Sep 1976.

Supersedes statement prepared on 24 Oct 1969.

Emblem. Approved on 17 Jul 2007.

Prepared by William M. Butler.

Reviewed by A. Timothy Warnock.

RELATED STORY LINK

Bill Sweetman: Beast Of Kandahar Revealed/Desert Prowler

A photograph of the Beast of Kandahar, the classified stealth UAV first reported in April, has emerged on a blog linked to left-wing French newspaper Liberation.

The photo confirms that the previous artists' impressions were largely accurate. The jet has long, slender outer wings, spanning as much as 80 feet, mated to a stouter, deeper centerbody with a pointed nose. One important detail: the overwing fairings are not B-2-like inlets, but cover some kind of equipment - satcoms on one side, perhaps, and a sensor on the other.

The most likely provenance of the airframe is Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, and it is very likely to be associated with the Desert Prowler program - unearthed by historian Peter Merlin and "patchologist" Trevor Paglen. But it should be noted that Dave Fulghum reported in June 2001 on a plan to acquire 12-24 high altitude, stealthy UAVs. The effort had gathered pace after a US EP-3 SIGINT aircraft was forced to land in China in April, and went further underground after 9/11. It's believed that the first of a small batch of aircraft flew in late 2005 and were operational in Afghanistan in 2007 (where this photo was probably taken.)

Despite superficial similarity the Desert Prowler is not an immediate relative of the Polecat technology demonstrator tested in 2006. The latter incorporated advanced aerodynamic and structural features for a future long-range, very high-altitude UAV, while Desert Prowler is more conservative.

Perhaps the biggest mystery, though, is what the birds were doing in Kandahar. Why use a stealth aircraft against an adversary that doesn't have radar? And if it was part of some Secret Squirrel operation against the Taliban, what in the blue blazes was it doing outdoors in daylight?


LINK




Editors note: My guess is that it most likely has significant SIGINT & COMINT capabilities, helpful in ferreting out Taliban using two-way radios to coordinate their attacks, not to mention if UBL should get lonely and want to reach out and touch someone (on his cell or sat phone) it wouldn't hurt to have this bird up there listening in.

And since it most likely can "listen in" it wouldn't do much political good for the Pakistanis to know it's up there, especially to those known to be sympathetic to the Taliban and resentful of a U.S. military presence.