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.
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