Lockheed / Boeing RQ-3 DarkStar

The History of the Lockheed/Boeing RQ-3 DarkStar

The origins of DarkStar were discovered in a 1983 initiative in which the United States Air Force (USAF), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) started a new competition to To create a high-altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) that meets the spirit of reconnaissance. The competition involved two defense companies, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, with products nicknamed "Quartz." The system was designed to penetrate deep into Soviet airspace and hover over the territory for up to forty hours while using airborne intelligence gathering equipment.

This move led to the designation of the Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System (AARS) program.

However, in December 1992, the AARS program was terminated following a budget review and was also hampered by the eventual collapse of the Soviet Empire. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant that many espionage programs were either scaled back or shut down entirely. Still, the program continues on a more restrained, less ambitious path under the name "Tier III."

The Tier III program itself eventually split into two distinct directions - the first to produce long-range, high-altitude non-stealth drones, and the second to be a high-altitude stealth alternative. The former became Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk, while the latter became Lockheed/Boeing's RQ-3 Darkstar system.

DarkStar was developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency label "DARPA".

Externally, the Dark Star gained a rather unique form of craft. It has a disc-shaped hull with a nice, low profile. On its rear side are attached the main wing assemblies, these are straight wing attachments.

The movable wing surface has been defined along the trailing edge, while the wingtips have been clipped. The fuselage houses the engine, which is sucked in from the front and expelled through a small opening in the stern. The landing gear is fully retractable. Without any vertical wing surfaces, its payload remains inside, consisting of intelligence gathering equipment, among other things. A probe is attached to the leading edge of the hull form.

The overall dimensions of the aircraft include a length of 15 feet, a wingspan of 69 feet and a height of 3 feet 6 inches. Curb weight is listed at about 4,360 lbs, and load weight is 8,500 lbs. Cruising speed is about 288 miles per hour.

The range is 575 miles and the service ceiling is up to 45,000 feet.

The RQ-3 DarkStar prototype first flew on March 29, 1996. However, the car crashed on its second flight in April.

A slight modification to the design led to the designation of "RQ-3A", and two more RQ-3A prototypes were completed, but since the program was cancelled on January 28 (due to concerns about its stability and budget cuts), these The prototype never flew). , 1999.

All three existing specimens are classified as museum exhibits. They are currently (January 2014) at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

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