Source: Shephard.co.uk
Darren Lake, of Shephard's Unmanned Vehicles magazine, reported yesterday that he has obtained a photo showing a mysterious new aircraft operating in Afghanistan. The UV staff published an artist's drawing of the photo (above).Mystery UAV operating in Afghanistan
By Darren Lake
...Amongst the distinctive features of the type is the 'fat' wing chord, and a large central fuselage fairing. The aircraft engine nozzle is the same half moon shape as the Lockheed P175 Pole Cat, but the wing is not cranked on its trailing edge like the Pole Cat is.
The fuselage fairing could support a large squared off intake, but is more likely to house a large satellite communications and sensor mix. Two large blisters either side of the central fairing are likely to the intakes for a single turbofan engine.
...
The large doors inboard of the main landing gear may be bomb bay doors, indicating a strike capability for the type.
on April 10, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply
I suppose its possible... I remember reports of a "mystery" UAV early in the Iraq war too. How credible is the source?
on April 10, 2009 6:54 PM | Reply
Thanks Steve for this story. It is relevant and sure beats the latest video Jon has loaded to his blog.
on April 10, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply
Well, thanks, but I liked that video!
on April 12, 2009 11:18 PM | Reply
Someone that has a lot of knowledge of Area 51 and UAV projects suggested this could be the Lockheed Desert Prowler. There have been two patches seen relating to it, but no information about it.
on April 21, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply
With those wing cut-lines and If that was capable of carrying a 1000 pounder, that artists impression looks remarkably similar to the U99 study developed at Cranfield University.
on June 3, 2009 7:58 PM | Reply
This is the SkunkWorks' Pole cat! One of the test pilots at BlackBird Park told me with a smirk that it crashed back in 04.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9602-a-plane-you-can-print.html