Sighted: A Secret US Aircraft in Afghanistan

[BATMAN]

your views are pretty extreme even for this website.

No not views... i speak of acts and facts....
our families are dying by US wepons and terrorists comming from afghanistan.
This site is about discussion not humiliating Pakistan's development or china's development by teaming up with failed indians.
I have just responded to the compound jelousy of american and indians towards UAV development from Pakistan and China.
BTW... in every thread indians and americans blame Pak army but i have quoted only facts that US go around the world destabalizing states, intiating cycle of blood shed.

 

[Thomas]

No not views... i speak of acts and facts....
our families are dying by US wepons and terrorists comming from afghanistan.
This site is about discussion not humiliating Pakistan's development or china's development by teaming up with failed indians.
I have just responded to the compound jelousy of american and indians towards UAV development from Pakistan and China.
BTW... in every thread indians and americans blame Pak army but i have quoted only facts that US go around the world destabalizing states, intiating cycle of blood shed.

"I have just responded to the compound jelousy of american and indians towards UAV development from Pakistan and China."


Please explain to me how the U.S. could be jealous? what is there to be jealous of?

"our families are dying by US wepons and terrorists comming from afghanistan."

Yes I know you believe that the U.S. controls Osama. How many here really believe that one? And while granted as the U.S. operations may at times push Taliban into Pakistan. both Taliban groups have always enjoyed support from the tribal areas. And joint operated training bases in Pakistan as well. Also the weapons they use are not American but Russian and Chinese mainly.

 

[ejaz007]

"I have just responded to the compound jelousy of american and indians towards UAV development from Pakistan and China."


Please explain to me how the U.S. could be jealous? what is there to be jealous of?

"our families are dying by US wepons and terrorists comming from afghanistan."

Yes I know you believe that the U.S. controls Osama. How many here really believe that one? And while granted as the U.S. operations may at times push Taliban into Pakistan. both Taliban groups have always enjoyed support from the tribal areas. And joint operated training bases in Pakistan as well. Also the weapons they use are not American but Russian and Chinese mainly.

Recently your president accepted that they allowed Osama to escape and did not concentrate on arresting him. Can you explain why he was allowed to escape. War on terror was started to capture him and USA invaded Afghanistan for the sole purpose of arresting him. People in Pakistan believe that the real aim of this war is to take control of worlds energy resources.

You should also know that it was CIA which created him and not Pakistan. Pakistan is paying the price for the misadventures of USA.

 

[Thomas]

Recently your president accepted that they allowed Osama to escape and did not concentrate on arresting him. Can you explain why he was allowed to escape. War on terror was started to capture him and USA invaded Afghanistan for the sole purpose of arresting him. People in Pakistan believe that the real aim of this war is to take control of worlds energy resources.

You should also know that it was CIA which created him and not Pakistan. Pakistan is paying the price for the misadventures of USA.

The U.S. has always acknowledged that they made huge mistake in not fully encircling Tora Bora. As well as letting the Afghans to take the lead initially in the assault. That is what Obama refereed to. The official made that decision I hope was dismissed for incompetence.

As far as oil resources the U.S. had the opportunity in Iraq to do that and did not. Asia and Europe get the vast majority of Iraqi oil. And unless you know something I do not. As far as I know there isn't any oil in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

The C.I.A. didn't create Osama anymore then Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Israel did. It was all those countries that funded, trained, and supplied arms to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan. It was after Saddam invaded Kuwait and the Saudi king rebuffed Osama in favor of the U.S. that he decided to start blowing things up. And yes Israel supplied many of the weapons.

 

[gambit]

Recently your president accepted that they allowed Osama to escape and did not concentrate on arresting him. Can you explain why he was allowed to escape. War on terror was started to capture him and USA invaded Afghanistan for the sole purpose of arresting him. People in Pakistan believe that the real aim of this war is to take control of worlds energy resources.

You should also know that it was CIA which created him and not Pakistan. Pakistan is paying the price for the misadventures of USA.

You certain about that?

Interviews with Osama bin Laden in 1996 by Robert Fisk@Everything2.com

"Personally neither I nor my brothers saw evidence of American help.

Robert Fisk is as anti-America as journalists goes.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Reported by MastaKhan:

US Air Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone
Buzz up!283 votes Send
Email IM .Share


US Air Force – The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft … .Tue Dec 8, 4:28 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the "Beast of Kandahar," a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed "to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces," the air force said in a brief statement.

The "RQ" prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the "MQ" designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs.

Aviation experts dubbed the drone the "Beast of Kandahar" after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007.

The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber.

A blog in the French newspaper Liberation published another photo this week, feeding speculation among aviation watchers about the classified drone.

The air force said the aircraft came out of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works," also known as Advanced Development Programs, in California -- the home of sophisticated and often secret defense projects including the U-2 spy plane, the F-22 fighter jet and the F-117 Nighthawk.

The photo of the drone in Afghanistan has raised questions about why the United States would be operating a stealth unmanned aircraft in a country where insurgents have no radar systems, prompting speculation Washington was using the drones for possible spying missions in neighboring Iran or Pakistan.

The Sentinel was believed to have a flying wing design with no tail and with sensors built into the top side of each wing, according to published photos.

The RQ-170 is in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' request for more intelligence and surveillance resources and with the Air Force chief of staff's plans to expand the fleet of unmanned aircraft, the air force said.

The new drone is flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron out of Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, which is under Air Combat Command's 432nd Wing at Creech Air Base, also in Nevada.

The United States has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan using the Predator and larger Reaper drones.

Robots or "unmanned systems" in the air and on the ground are now deployed by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan, spying from the sky for hours on end, searching for booby-traps and firing lethal missiles without putting US soldiers at risk.


http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-aviation/41017-beast-kndhahar-revealed.html#post576554

 

[TruthSeeker]

RQ-170 Sentinel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The RQ-170 Sentinel is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It has been deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The RQ-170 Sentinel was developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works as a stealth UAV. It is a tailless flying wing aircraft with sensor pods built into the upper edge of each wing. Few details on the UAV have been released, but it appears to have an approximately 65 feet (20 m) wingspan.[1]

The 'RQ' designation indicates that the RQ-170 Sentinel does not carry weapons. Aviation Week's David A. Fulghum however believes that the UAV is probably a "tactical, operations-oriented platform and not a strategic intelligence-gathering design".

The USAF confirmed the existence of the RQ-170 Sentinel December 4, 2009.

The 30th Reconnaissance Squadron, which is based at Tonopah Test Range Airport, operates RQ-170 Sentinels. This squadron was activated on September 1, 2005. RQ-170 Sentinels have been deployed to Afghanistan, where one was sighted at Kandahar International Airport in late 2007.[1] This sighting, and the Sentinel's secret status at the time, led aviation expert Bill Sweetman to dub it the "Beast of Kandahar".

RQ-170 Sentinel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TruthSeeker]

New unmanned US stealth jet based in Afghanistan gathers data in Iran

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 8, 2009, 2:07 PM (GMT+02:00)

US Air Force spokesmen confirmed this week that the hitherto secret unmanned, high-altitude stealth jet, the "Beast of Kandahar," was present at the big US air base of Bagram, in Afghanistan. Photos of the Beast on the Bagram tarmac - outside its regular base at Kandahar near the Iranian and Pakistani borders - appeared in various Internet sites this week.

Designated RQ-170 Sentinel, it is the first jet drone ever developed for military use. France's EURO Demonstrator is a similar project which will be ready for test flights only in another two years.

According to DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources, Washington had a reason for letting the Beast surface at this time in the form of a published photograph and a note about its ability to fly over the borders of Iran, China, India and Pakistan for collecting "useful data about missile tests, telemetry, signals and multi-spectral intelligence. The disclosure came on the heels of Iran's big air defense exercise for guarding its nuclear sites which ended in the third week of November; it appears to be a message to Tehran that all its war games, especially in intelligence and electronic warfare, were pointless since its skies are wide open to American drone activity against which Iran has no recourse.

Furthermore, its is painted medium grey like the Predator or Reaper, rather than the dark gray or overall black that would provide better concealment at high altitudes.

Both these features suggest the mysterious Beast of Kandahar may have secret functions other than pure reconnaissance.

DEBKAfile - New unmanned US stealth jet based in Afghanistan gathers data in Iran

 

[SOHEIL]

New unmanned US stealth jet based in Afghanistan gathers data in Iran

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 8, 2009, 2:07 PM (GMT+02:00)

US Air Force spokesmen confirmed this week that the hitherto secret unmanned, high-altitude stealth jet, the "Beast of Kandahar," was present at the big US air base of Bagram, in Afghanistan. Photos of the Beast on the Bagram tarmac - outside its regular base at Kandahar near the Iranian and Pakistani borders - appeared in various Internet sites this week.

Designated RQ-170 Sentinel, it is the first jet drone ever developed for military use. France's EURO Demonstrator is a similar project which will be ready for test flights only in another two years.

According to DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources, Washington had a reason for letting the Beast surface at this time in the form of a published photograph and a note about its ability to fly over the borders of Iran, China, India and Pakistan for collecting "useful data about missile tests, telemetry, signals and multi-spectral intelligence. The disclosure came on the heels of Iran's big air defense exercise for guarding its nuclear sites which ended in the third week of November; it appears to be a message to Tehran that all its war games, especially in intelligence and electronic warfare, were pointless since its skies are wide open to American drone activity against which Iran has no recourse.

Furthermore, its is painted medium grey like the Predator or Reaper, rather than the dark gray or overall black that would provide better concealment at high altitudes.

Both these features suggest the mysterious Beast of Kandahar may have secret functions other than pure reconnaissance.

DEBKAfile - New unmanned US stealth jet based in Afghanistan gathers data in Iran

 

[anon45]

 

[Menace2Society]

Obviously the drone strikes will keep happening because it serves as a test bed for these.

Nice bit of tech, Pakistan should shoot down one and reverse engineer.

 

[Cyberian]

Obviously the drone strikes will keep happening because it serves as a test bed for these.

Nice bit of tech, Pakistan should shoot down one and reverse engineer.

Why do they need to be shot down when they're based in Pakistan?