Lockheed TR-X

History

The United States Air Force (USAF) is aiming to phase out its aging family of Lockheed U-2 spy planes as early as 2019, but this has left a glaring hole in the service's conventional tactical high-altitude reconnaissance arm -- The only viable option remains the expensive Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk series. In response, Lockheed created the "TR-X" program, a stealth drone designed to replace the fabled U-2 in the U.S. Air Force inventory.

The new aircraft will be developed along the same mission line as the U-2 the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (IRS) mission and will operate at an altitude of approximately 70,000 feet to avoid most enemy air defenses and interceptors.

The design is expected to be powered by the same (or similar) engines as the outgoing U-2, giving it subsonic flight and stealth capabilities that other Lockheed products, including the F-22 and F-35 ) that did not greatly affect the overall design of the aircraft. Recent concept art takes the form of a black design, with the main wing swept back, the rear wing swept out, and a dorsal air intake behind the nose. All mission equipment will remain internal with modular payload capabilities built in.

Support for existing U-2 and RQ-4 devices will also be incorporated into the new design.

From the looks of it, Lockheed expects the first 30 TR-X stealth drones to replace the U-2 in the US Air Force (the new product will also threaten the rival RQ-4 drone, which is conventional - non-camouflaged aircraft is - draft). Lockheed's foray into the TR-X marks the first foray into stealth drones since the cancellation of the RQ-3 Darkstar (detailed elsewhere on this site).

Early modest estimates were around $3. Spent $8 billion to build the TR-X.

Despite expected retirement in 2019, the realistic prospect that the U-2 will remain in service into the 2020s remains.

All figures below are pure estimates by the authors, based on current U-2 capacity.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes