Drones in Global War: RQ-180 or "White Bat"
For quite a long time after the end of the Cold War, the United States government delayed funding defense projects aimed at confronting a high-tech adversary.
These words should not be misunderstood — they do not mean that the US military was unprepared for a large-scale engagement with a well-equipped enemy army. The point is that the advantages gained by the United States in the course of global modernization (associated, in particular, with the process of the so-called "digital revolution") of their army in the 80s of the last century, were gradually leveled, and the line of technological superiority was becoming more and more and was more blurred.
To a large extent, these financial restrictions applied to drones.
Despite their obvious value (in particular, in the eyes of the military), the US Air Force struggled to receive funds for projects not related to the development of weapons for local conflicts alone. According to civilian officials, the armed forces possessed an already sufficiently large and modern fleet of manned aviation - and heavy drones were redundant.
Perhaps the most outstanding breakthrough by the Pentagon's military administrators was funding for the RQ-4 Global Hawk strategic reconnaissance UAV project. The rest of the projects were cut - only those that were critically needed by the American army on the battlefield survived, such as the legendary RQ-1 Predator or its successor, the RQ-9 Reaper.
But by the end of the 2000s, the situation in the world began to change rapidly: Russia and China began to actively modernize their armed forces, including significantly expanding the capabilities of their own air defense. First of all, this seriously affected the strategic and operational intelligence capabilities of the US Air Force.
The new conditions required a response at a qualitatively different level - and this is how the project, now known as the "White Bat", was born.
It is worth noting that the programs for the development of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft using stealth technology did not appear out of the blue, and were conceptually formed back in the 1990s.
The US military was already prepared for a threat from, say, China at that time. For example, the commander of naval operations, Admiral Frank B. Kelso II, in the first half of the decade, repeatedly emphasized in his memoranda and doctrinal documents the need to prepare for confrontation with the PRC.
However, as mentioned above, with the collapse of the USSR, the US civilian authorities seriously tied the hands of Pentagon officials - all the development of new drones was carried out almost on an initiative basis in absolute secrecy and received funding from the so-called. the secret budget of the US Air Force, as well as the CIA (in general, the Central Intelligence Agency, with its high degree of independence from the civilian state apparatus, literally saved stealth drones: it was thanks to the CIA that both RQ-170 Sentinel and RQ-180 were embodied in metal).
The colossal scientific and technical groundwork for the stealth F-117 and B-2 aircraft, as well as extensive experience in the practical use of UAVs, allowed the Americans to implement projects of strategic reconnaissance drones in the shortest (less than 10 years, but possibly less) terms.
RQ-170 Sentinel
The first was the infamous RQ-170 Sentinel - although the exact time of the appearance of these devices is still unknown, tentatively this drone began to be operated in limited quantities by the US Air Force and the CIA in 2005.
Sentinel, apparently, was originally considered as a transitional link to a more functional, stealthy reconnaissance aircraft - this model was designed to work out the concept of a drone capable of operating over the territories of countries with developed and rich air defense. Unfortunately, there are no specific details of the operation of the RQ-170 in the public domain, but the Pentagon shed light on some interesting points in different years: UAVs regularly flew over the DPRK, some regions of the PRC, Pakistan (in particular, it was the RQ-170 that monitored behind the shelter of Osama bin Laden), as well as Iran (during which one device crashed near Tehran due to a technical malfunction).
In particular, it is reliably known that the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron of the US Air Force online watched the preparation and launch of the North Korean Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017. As you might guess, the launch pad is an object of strategic importance, and was covered by the North Korean air defense, but nevertheless, the RQ-170 Sentinel fulfilled its task of penetrating into the so-called. "Zone of prohibited access".
However, the design features of the RQ-170 imposed a number of restrictions on its ability to penetrate into areas protected by the most modern air defense systems. The Sentinel had some of the structural elements used in earlier stealth vehicles, but could not be considered completely unobtrusive.
In addition, the drone that fell near Tehran was examined by Russian and Iranian engineers - this finally put an end to the further development of the project (according to some reports, the crashed RQ-170 served as the impetus for the creation of the Russian S-70 Okhotnik).
In 2008, Northrop Grumman plants in Palmdale and Tonopah, as well as the legendary "Zone 51" located on the dried up Lake Grum in Nevada, appeared new buildings - aircraft hangars, in which, according to satellite images, it was possible to place an aircraft with a wingspan of 40 meters. It was no coincidence - the buildings were erected specifically for the new strategic reconnaissance aircraft RQ-180, whose prototypes entered the flight test stage.
"White Bat"
The White Bat is a conceptual and technical successor to the line of the legendary F-117 and B-2 stealths, which were created to work in conditions of opposition from the echeloned and saturated air defense of the Warsaw Pact countries.
The RQ-180 was designed for similar tasks, but adjusted for a qualitatively new level of development of Chinese and Russian anti-aircraft systems.
The White Bat is not a strike machine - its central mission is reconnaissance. This UAV is intended not only to complement the capabilities of optical satellites, but also to replace them in the event of an attack on the US satellite constellation as a tool for collecting intelligence at the operational-tactical level.
In addition, the functionality of the RQ-180 is closely related to the Long Range Strike Bomber program: acting in conjunction with the stealthy intercontinental bomber B-21 Raider, the White Bat, being undetected, will invade the so-called. “A2 / D2 restricted areas” and issue target designation to missile carriers (not only bombers, but also fifth-generation F-35 aircraft or URO ships).
Among other things, the RQ-180 is also considered by default as an electronic warfare platform - each drone is armed with means for carrying out electronic attacks.
It is worth mentioning the prospects of using the "White Bat" as an AWACS vehicle - according to the assumptions of many military theorists, classic long-range radar reconnaissance aircraft in the event of hostilities will not be able to actively work near A2 / D2 zones.
As an alternative, they are encouraged to use platforms made using stealth technology that can directly invade enemy territory - such as the RQ-180, which can “hack” into restricted areas with stealth bombers and stealth interceptors created in at the moment in the framework of the Penetrating Counter-Air program.
The RQ-180 is a completely classified project, like all the other stealths (including the old models such as the B-2 and F-117), and yet information about its flights to one point or another in the world appears from time to time.
More often than not, it is, albeit not immediately, but confirmed by the representatives of the US Air Force themselves or the think tanks associated with them.
According to the data, as of 2019, the US armed forces had seven White Bats, which were involved in a number of reconnaissance operations in the Pacific Ocean, the Korean Peninsula and even in the skies over the Syrian Arab Republic and China.
US military analysts suggest that the RQ-180 are now ready to implement the "stealth long-range strike" doctrine in conjunction with the US Air Force's B-2 stealth bombers. This dangerous tandem is directed towards the PRC - "White bats" were seen (visually) in the Philippines and the island of Guam.
However, the Air Force command announced that large-scale production of the RQ-180 will begin in 2026-2027 - that is, approximately at the same time when the US Air Force will receive the first large batches of B-21 Raider bombers and will have an impressive number of fifth-generation aircraft F-35.
A special emphasis should be placed on the control system of the "White Bat" - given that it is Northrop Grumman who is engaged in its development, which in parallel creates the latest software for existing UAVs in order to increase their autonomy, it can be assumed that the RQ-180 will either completely independent of the operator (in particular, when penetrating into the A2 / D2 zones, where the communication channel between the pilot and the vehicle can serve as an unmasking factor), or external control of the drone will be a routine formality - say, the vehicle itself will identify and select targets, and the operator only confirm her choice.
It is more likely that the initial design of this machine is based on the possibility of a completely independent flight and performing reconnaissance tasks.
The RQ-180 is definitely one of the most interesting developments of our time, and it requires special, close attention. After all, the "White Bat" was created and is being finalized to carry out missions in the zones of activity of the most advanced Russian air defense systems.
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