Northrop Grumman "RQ-180"

How many airframes would constitute a squadron? 3? 8? 12? 15? 24?

Have we seen any reporting or other indications on how many were built?

Are they still being built?
 
Are they still being built?

A good question. Either they're at a very low rate of production or if they aren't in production anymore then likely their production jigs and tooling are in a secure, controlled-climate storage ready to be taken out and set up if new RQ-180s are needed.
 
I swear most tankers end up with ARCO or some other gas station as their call signs anyways...
I know, all of the oil companies/gas stations rejected the KC-46, sorry I digressed. In regards, to the "180", I know that there is supposed to be a new resident at EAFB South Base, some new facilities were put in-place. B-21 CTF is at EAFB Main Base but something is afoot at SB?
 
B-21 CTF is at EAFB Main Base but something is afoot at SB?

B-21 itself has been at south base.

There was a period of general renovation/improvement at south base at the time people were talking about a new program there. As I recall some of it was removing stuff from the ABL program that was still around, cleaning up environmental stuff and a lot of general repairs and upgrades.

There is a fairly new shelter/hangar at south base, within the last year or so.
 
I'm guessing maybe 12 airframes with 3x ground control stations. Seems to be typical for most relatively long duration drones.

Peter Merlin's book "Dreamland" lists 9 EMD airframes with serial numbers before production aircraft were delivered.
 
There was a period of general renovation/improvement at south base at the time people were talking about a new program there.

However, there were quite a few "pop-up" shelters and some more "permanent" shelters that came about before the 21, in the time-frame of the "180" at EDWS.

(edit) B-21 refits don't fit as well as the idea of 180/s being there first, constuction-wise... Also heard the 21 might not be working out of EDWS, yet...
 
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Once testing had been completed I suppose the EMD aircraft would've been refurbished into operational airframes?
Possibly. The B2s did that, but that was a result of the program getting slashed from 100 132 to 21 including EMD.
 
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Peter Merlin's book "Dreamland" lists 9 EMD airframes with serial numbers before production aircraft were delivered.

Doesn't that seem like a high number if you're only planning on building a couple of dozen? B-21 has 6 for 100 or more planned, no?
 
Not really. Not if most of the EMD airframes are going to be refurbished into fully operational airframes after testing is complete.
 
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Not really. Not if most of the EMD airframes are going to be refurbished into fully operational airframe after testing is complete.
It feels a lot like the Global Hawk program. The first seven airframes were built as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration to evaluate the design and demonstrate its capabilities. At the time, there was such a high demand for the Global Hawk's capabilities that demonstrator aircraft were pressed into service in Southwest Asia. Also, the Global Hawk entered initial low-rate production while still in engineering and manufacturing development (EMD).

So, we have nine RQ-180 aircraft built for EMD. First flight was in 2010 and operational test and evaluation began in 2014. The first production airframe joined the fleet in 2017 and by 2020 there were at least four or five others. I would imagine that a few of the EMD airframes may have been retired by now and one reportedly crashed in 2016. More production airframes may have been built since 2020, so the total fleet numbers remain an open question. It would make sense for the RQ-180 to be a significant part of the B-21's "family of systems" that has been mentioned from time to time.
 
It feels a lot like the Global Hawk program. The first seven airframes were built as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration to evaluate the design and demonstrate its capabilities. At the time, there was such a high demand for the Global Hawk's capabilities that demonstrator aircraft were pressed into service in Southwest Asia. Also, the Global Hawk entered initial low-rate production while still in engineering and manufacturing development (EMD).

So, we have nine RQ-180 aircraft built for EMD. First flight was in 2010 and operational test and evaluation began in 2014. The first production airframe joined the fleet in 2017 and by 2020 there were at least four or five others. I would imagine that a few of the EMD airframes may have been retired by now and one reportedly crashed in 2016. More production airframes may have been built since 2020, so the total fleet numbers remain an open question. It would make sense for the RQ-180 to be a significant part of the B-21's "family of systems" that has been mentioned from time to time.
It blows my mind that so many airframes that big can remain hidden for so long.
 
It blows my mind that so many airframes that big can remain hidden for so long.
It does seem odd, but on the other hand, if it is something that spends almost all of its life above 50,000 feet, then it seems a bit more achievable.
 
It blows my mind that so many airframes that big can remain hidden for so long.
It reportedly takes off at night with all the ground handling operations being accomplished under blackout conditions, very similar to the early years of the F-117A Nighthawk. A sufficient number of tidbits have been published in the aviation press and discussed online to get a halfway decent understanding of the program's scope. And, although confirmation remains elusive, there have now been several long-distance pictures taken by civilians during daylight hours of an aircraft that resembles the presumed RQ-180 configuration.
 
It reportedly takes off at night with all the ground handling operations being accomplished under blackout conditions, very similar to the early years of the F-117A Nighthawk. A sufficient number of tidbits have been published in the aviation press and discussed online to get a halfway decent understanding of the program's scope. And, although confirmation remains elusive, there have now been several long-distance pictures taken by civilians during daylight hours of an aircraft that resembles the presumed RQ-180 configuration.
When at the B-2 CTF in the early 90's during night shift, the base was blacked out, no moon and a very loud vehicle took of west to east, one amber nose light, two wing tip green lights, taxi/landing lights were on and it was long but the interesting part was the large rectangular afterburner nozzles and it climbed out like a bat of hell. Just wanted to add something involving ops in base blackout conditions.
 
It reportedly takes off at night with all the ground handling operations being accomplished under blackout conditions, very similar to the early years of the F-117A Nighthawk. A sufficient number of tidbits have been published in the aviation press and discussed online to get a halfway decent understanding of the program's scope. And, although confirmation remains elusive, there have now been several long-distance pictures taken by civilians during daylight hours of an aircraft that resembles the presumed RQ-180 configuration.
I know, but still it’s an incredible achievement that we only have a few pictures, and still no real confirmation of where it’s based (although there have some pretty likely locations been pointed out).

The fact that it’s been caught flying in daylight with contrails tells me that it’s not sight sensitive anymore (at least from a distance), but that they don’t want the countries it’s spying on to know when it’s about to start it’s mission - that would make it a lot easier for them to figure out what it’s up to and to track it.

Even so, just a handful of pictures in all those years is still very little; a remarkable achievement.
 
I suspect it takes off at night, flies by day, does its thing, and often lands the next night. It likely has sufficient endurance to for that profile most of the time.
That's certainly how I'd want to design a classified, VLO, high altitude recon plane. Give it at least 18 hours of flight endurance, so it can take off before twilight early in the morning and land after evening twilight the same day, even in summer. If no major work is needed, you might even be able to fly the plane again the next morning.
 
I agree, 9 test articles does sound a lot. If the RQ-180's wingspan is likely an expensive aircraft so a small production run is likely. But how small? The USAF built around 30 SR-71s so a production run of between 20 and 30 would seem reasonable.

They were likely manufactured at Plant 42. Could they still be in production along side of new B-21s? Or did the AF plan to end RQ-180 production once B-21 production started?

And where are they based? There doesn't seem to be enough new construction of hangers the size which could accommodate the RQ-180 at secluded bases such as Tonopah, Area 51, or Edwards.
 
When at the B-2 CTF in the early 90's during night shift, the base was blacked out, no moon and a very loud vehicle took of west to east, one amber nose light, two wing tip green lights, taxi/landing lights were on and it was long but the interesting part was the large rectangular afterburner nozzles and it climbed out like a bat of hell. Just wanted to add something involving ops in base blackout conditions.
that's around the timeframe when the alleged SR-71 replacement program started?

if i recall the rumors correctly, the 'SR-72' then gets cancelled due to cost, fall of the wall, and the improved performance of digital imaging satellites?
 
Where is it based ? since years still no public roll ?
Groom Lake would be the obvious place. It only takes off or lands after dark local time, and by the time the sun is up it's either at 60,000ft or in a hangar. And it's not possible to get to a place where you can see what is going on inside the base from the ground.

There's probably a couple of possible places one could divert in case of emergency, the base the F117s were at in Saudi comes to mind as a possibility. So does Diego Garcia and Guam.
 
There’s no way an RW-180 touches down anywhere in the mid east. Diego is a pretty sure bet, as no civilian can get close to it. Some of the new structures in Guam might indicate at least short term stop overs. There are other 100% government owned islands in the pacific that might be good stop over points.

Something to consider is that if it can in flight refuel, it probably has very few foreign bases.
 

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