{"id":216027,"date":"2020-11-05T07:52:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T07:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=216027"},"modified":"2020-11-08T09:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T09:16:56","slug":"mystery-aircraft-may-be-successor-to-the-sr-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=216027","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Aircraft May Be Successor to the SR-71"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Is this Air Force&#8217;s top secret &#8216;Great White Bat&#8217; stealth drone? Californian man snaps mystery aircraft above his house that experts believe is successor to SR-71 Blackbird &#8211; even though military has not acknowledged it exists<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>An aircraft matching the description of the bat-wing RQ-180 was pictured soaring over Edwards Air Force Base by Rob Kolinsky in early October<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Briefly posting the image to Instagram Saturday, Kolinsky said: &#8216;This thing flew over my house several weeks ago and I still have yet to identify it!&#8217;<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>The Air Force has never officially acknowledged the existence of the Northrop Grumman-made RQ-180 but Aviation Weekly claims its shown in the image<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>The aircraft shown matches the \u2018understanding of the shape of what is commonly known as the RQ-180 unmanned aircraft system,&#8217; the outlet said<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Such features are said to include a large-span flying wing with a simple trailing edge and closely paired twin turbofan engines<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Further, the unusual light color of the aircraft is also a telling link back to the RQ-180, which is reportedly dubbed the \u2018Great White Bat\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Luke Henton \u2013 Daily Mail Nov 4, 2020<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The US Air Force\u2019s top secret stealth spy drone dubbed the &#8216;Great White Bat&#8217; could have broken its cover, thanks to the quick reactions of a<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/california\/index.html\"><strong>California<\/strong><\/a><\/span> man who&#8217;s believed to have snapped the first ever picture of the classified aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">A craft matching the description of the bat-wing RQ-180 was pictured soaring over Edwards Air Force Base sometime in early October by photographer Rob Kolinsky, who briefly posted the image to Instagram on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018This thing flew over my house several weeks ago and I still have yet to identify it!\u2019 Kolinsky said in a since-deleted post. \u2018It\u2019s shaped like a B-21 \u2026 but was painted white. Mystery!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">He added: \u2018I was not going to post it but I thought that if it were really classified, they wouldn\u2019t be flying it in broad daylight like this\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Air Force has never officially acknowledged the existence of the Northrop Grumman-made RQ-180, but <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense-space\/aircraft-propulsion\/possible-photo-highly-secret-rq-180-aircraft-surfaces-online\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">A<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense-space\/aircraft-propulsion\/possible-photo-highly-secret-rq-180-aircraft-surfaces-online\"><strong>viation Week reporter Guy Norris<\/strong><\/a><\/span> identified the aircraft in Kolinsky\u2019s pictures as the classified drone.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_216029\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-216029\" class=\"wp-image-216029\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180-300x194.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-216029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aircraft matching the description of the bat-wing RQ-180 was pictured soaring over Edwards Air Force Base sometime in early October by photographer Rob Kolinsky, who briefly posted the image to Instagram on Saturday. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Norris wrote that the aircraft depicted matches the \u2018understanding of the shape of what is commonly known as the RQ-180 unmanned aircraft system (UAS).\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Such features are said to include a large-span flying wing and closely paired twin turbofan engines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018The high-aspect-ratio wing also appears greater in span than other known large unmanned aircraft and has a relatively low sweep angle,\u2019 Norris noted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Further, the unusual light coloring of the aircraft is also said to be a telling link back to the RQ-180.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The drone is reportedly dubbed the \u2018Great White Bat\u2019 \u2013 or sometimes \u2018Shikaka\u2019, a reference to white bat featured in the movie Ace Ventura 2 \u2013 among Edwards AFB officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">A \u2018white bat\u2019 symbol has also emerged as the badge for the 74th Reconnaissance Squadron, the unit thought to be training to take command of the RQ-180.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense-space\/secret-new-uas-shows-stealth-efficiency-advances\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Aviation Week<\/span> <\/strong><\/a>were the first to break the news of the drone\u2019s alleged development in 2013. Six years later, in 2019, the magazine followed up with an in-depth feature that claimed at least seven RQ-180s had been developed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018There is a growing body of evidence that the stealthy vehicle is now fully operational with the U.S. Air Force in a penetrating intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance role,\u2019 the article read at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_216030\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-216030\" class=\"wp-image-216030\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180-2.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/RQ180-2-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-216030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The aircraft shown matches the \u2018understanding of the shape of what is commonly known as the RQ-180 unmanned aircraft system,&#8217; Aviation weekly said. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The RQ-180 is reportedly similar in shape to the Northrop-designed B-2 stealth bomber. The unmanned aircraft is, however, considerably smaller than the manned bomber.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It\u2019s also said to feature design improvements that Northrop is including on the B-21 bomber, which the company is currently building for the Air Force, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/davidaxe\/2020\/11\/01\/the-us-air-forces-secret-spy-drone-makes-public-debut-on-instagram\/?sh=7ffe338a1458\"><strong>Forbes\u2019 David Axe reported<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The RQ-180 reportedly first took flight back in 2010, and is believed to be the potential successor to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a long-range, high-altitude manned reconnaissance craft which was retired by USAF in 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/davidaxe\/2020\/11\/01\/the-us-air-forces-secret-spy-drone-makes-public-debut-on-instagram\/?sh=7ffe338a1458\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Forbes <\/span><\/strong><\/a>reported that, with the RQ-180, the Air Force would be able to penetrate enemy air-defenses with a far-flying reconnaissance craft for the first time since the Blackbird was decommissioned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">As of 2020, the Blackbird still holds the world record it set in 1976 for being the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, where it registered speeds of 2,193 mph.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Air Force reportedly first tested the estimated 170-feet-wingspan RQ-180 at Groom Lake, which is part of the Area 51 complex in Nevada.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">A decade on, and the RQ-180 is said to be so well-established in Air Force service that the military branch has even pushed to axe the majority of its fleet of non-stealthy RQ-4 Global Hawk drones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-8910459\/Is-photo-secret-Great-White-Bat-stealth-drone-Man-snaps-mystery-aircraft.html\">Continues \u2026 <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Californian man snaps mystery aircraft above his house that experts believe is successor to SR-71 Blackbird <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Fringe_Science_New_Discoveries_and_Developments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=216027"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216033,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216027\/revisions\/216033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=216027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=216027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=216027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}