Northrop Grumman "RQ-180"

quellish said:
Based on a photo taken near Groom Lake and the conditions that day, it may be considerably smaller than assumed.


https://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/messages/52473.html
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I agree, being smaller would make sense and I assume Scaled built at least the first few units, Scaled had a lot going in the 2007/2008 timeframe. It's probably going to be a while before we get any somewhat official info regarding this platform.
 
I'd always thought this was more strategic in role with a commensurate size/capability. More like Global Hawk than Reaper. Is that opinion changing now?
 
quellish said:
Based on a photo taken near Groom Lake and the conditions that day, it may be considerably smaller than assumed.


https://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/messages/52473.html
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Could very well be. But consider this:

- the size of the 2009 hangar at Groom Lake that was used by Northrop Grumman and appears to have been build for the RQ-180 development program; it’s pretty big and by far the largest at Groom Lake. Not only that, the taxiway around the hangar is very -almost unusually- wide.

- the size of the contrails relative to the presumed RQ-180 seems consistent with an aircraft with the wingspan of about a medium airliner (30-45 meters).

- it’s two engined. Of course, that might be for reliability and redundancy, but it reduces endurance. We can safely assume it has a very long endurance so you need a lot of fuel, so big tanks. You also need more power to get the aircraft up in the air, hence two engines.

We just don’t know exactly. But the above things combined indicate, to me at least, that it must be of considerable size, with a wingspan of around 30 meters, maybe even more.

It is quite short though, so most hangars wide enough could house 2, maybe even 3 of them.

In fact, my bet is that it’s almost exactly the same in shape and size as the B-21, probably a bit smaller. Which means it won’t fit in almost any of the hangars of what could have been a very likely lair for the White Bat: Tonopah, for example.

So where is it?
 
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Q-nimbus said:
I agree with you if there are about 8-12 airframes. Even then it would be very difficult to hide them purely in a practical sense: the RQ-180 Is BIG! Apart from that there is the infrastructure that is difficult to hide, even more so with 25 airframes.

Peter Merlin dug up 9 serial numbers for the RQ-180 for his book, perhaps any new ones have surfaced?
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Apparently, nine preproduction (advanced concept technology demonstration?) airframes were built. From 2010 through 2016, these took to the air at the rate of one or two per year.

The first production model rolled off the assembly line in early 2017 and by the end of 2019 there were four more. New ones seem to have been making their first flights at the rate or two per year through 2023, and there is some hint that there have been as many as four additional airframes since then. If true, that adds up to 25.

While this information is not conclusive, confidence is high.
 
@Whisperstream this isn’t meant to be a fan boi shikaka question but it seems utterly perplexing why a variant of this type wouldn’t have some rudimentary ordinance delivery capability - have you ever come across relevant data points? Aside from providing P/P-ISR, were there other obvious missions that suited -180?
 
Scott Kenny said:
What, a 75ft wingspan? When an MQ4C Triton has a 130ft wingspan? When a U2 has a 103ft wingspan?
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Fascinating. That puts us generally in the ballpark of the late Polecat. Which was a LockMart funded demonstrator for ... something.
 
Training_Dummy said:
This isn’t meant to be a fan boi Shikaka question but it seems utterly perplexing why a variant of this type wouldn’t have some rudimentary ordinance delivery capability - have you ever come across relevant data points? Aside from providing P/P-ISR, were there other obvious missions that suited -180?
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I strongly suspect the RQ-180 has some limited offensive capability. That would make sense, too, because it would be a terrific "silver bullet" option for covert strike.
 
The difference lies in the cruise speed required. An attack platform almost always gets aroud Mach 0.8 while the ISR plaform likely only do about half. Given same drag 0.5^2 => 4x less fuel needed or more range for same amount of fuel. So 5.5x sounds about right.
 
Scott Kenny said:
And the Navy was shooting for 1000nmi Combat Radius for ATA?

While RQ-180 is rumored to have a 5500nmi radius, 11,000nmi range.
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Guessing the structural ramifications of a long range ISR platform with runway launch are very different from carrier launches and recovery, for one thing.
 
Seragina said:
The difference lies in the cruise speed required. An attack platform almost always gets aroud Mach 0.8 while the ISR plaform likely only do about half. Given same drag 0.5^2 => 4x less fuel needed or more range for same amount of fuel. So 5.5x sounds about right.
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Modern ISR UAVs also have a fuel fraction of well over 70%
 
Whisperstream said:
Apparently, nine preproduction (advanced concept technology demonstration?) airframes were built. From 2010 through 2016, these took to the air at the rate of one or two per year.

The first production model rolled off the assembly line in early 2017 and by the end of 2019 there were four more. New ones seem to have been making their first flights at the rate or two per year through 2023, and there is some hint that there have been as many as four additional airframes since then. If true, that adds up to 25.

While this information is not conclusive, confidence is high.
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Thank you for your information, I trust you have very good sources.

Do you have any idea where they do their first flights? The NG hangar at Groom seems quiet, with no more than 25 people working there based on the number of cars (and I’m generous at assuming 2 persons per car - unlikely in the USA). I guess that could be enough for a flight test team, but then they would have to do the complete assembly in Palmdale and do first flights out of there.

I also think regular C-17 or C-5 flights from Palmdale to Groom Lake would be noticed.

I strongly suspect the RQ-180 has some limited offensive capability. That would make sense, too, because it would be a terrific "silver bullet" option for covert strike.
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I’m not too sure. Spying on another country with a stealth drone is one thing, flying above one with a potential weapon is something else entirely and could be interpreted as an act of war - very risky!

They have the B2/B21 for an attack role.
 
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At the time I was contacted for this "new" program, most of the job descriptions had security clearance requirements which seem be associated with intelligence meaning you needed a polygraph.
 
Hull down said:
View attachment 805899View attachment 805900
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RA-01?

If we're placing bets, I'm all-in on the RA-01. The area, and the black exterior scheme while operating during daylight would track with the IAF operating at an unprecedented pace. With OSINT there have been posts of something *very similar* operating in Lebanon (again in daylight), and I believe there is actual video as well. Actually, I'm confident those posts are from this site.

For all we know, the RA-01 is one-of-a-kind, and it's operating 24/7, because it has to.
 
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To me, the silhouette looks closer to the B-21 than the RQ-180.

Edit: Here's an image I found on Google from a similar angle.
 

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HyFonic said:
Spotted near Larissa, Greece. I can't think of anything else that this could be. There are a few more photos in the article.

View attachment 805906https://www.onlarissa.gr/2026/03/18...apo-ton-ourano-tis-larisas-deite-fotografies/
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There's only 2 areas at Larissa where it could be hiding in a hangar on the ground....

But....I'm not sure if we'll be seeing any ground shots....taking unauthorised photos of combat aircraft on the ground at Greek air bases is not a hobby anyone who isn't keen on prison food is liable to take up...
 
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I assume the "RQ-180" is a little smaller than B-21 and I'm pretty sure B-21 evolved from the 180, hence single wheel main gear if that is a 180. This type of flying wing design began with the original B-2 planform, which was used in our ATA (only 80ft wingspan) then to the 180 now in B-21, NG got B-21 due to the 180, other programs plus NG was investing into LSRB for a long time. Cannot forget ADP Polecat, again similar planform. Don't mess with success.
 
Goodbye Beast of Kandahar, long live the Lady of Larissa!

Larissa seems one of the least likely places to operate a classified airframe out of, as it’s literally right next to a city.

Larissa is right on track to RAF Fairford where it has been speculated it might be based.

Well, at least it didn’t land in Iran this time. Guess we’ll find out eventually what happened.
 
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The RQ-180

IMG_3807.jpeg

The airframe photographed at Larissa:

IMG_3810.png

The alleged RA-01:

IMG_3809.jpeg

EDIT: contrary to my earlier post, in light of the new video footage I’ve come to the conclusion that this is most likely the same platform we’ve seen photographed above California and Groom Lake.
 
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Q-nimbus said:
Unlikely for a lot of reasons.

If, IF the Israeli’s are deploying their RA-01’s on a forward base, Azerbaijan makes much more sense.

Edit: typo.
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During this conflict? I'm not so sure about that, Iran already struck Nakhchivan and it might have prompted a move.

Larissa underwent infrastructure upgrades over the last couple years, including adding two shelters at the east end of the base that are a fair bit bigger than the MQ-9s deployed there. Not out of the realm of possibility.

Screenshot_20260318_222631_Maps.jpg
 
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