The American Stealth Drone that May or May Not Exist (The RQ-180)

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[@megaprojects9649]

Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to keeps.com/MEGAPROJECTS to get a special offer.

[@marcbeebee6969]

Our Favorite shiny head you tuber 😂😂😂

[@LordMephiston40k]

Yeah, yeah you can narrate....but can you whistle though?

[@ThePixelated_kris]

⁠@@LordMephiston40k yeah Simon if your last name really is whistler why dont you ever whistle? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@j7ndominica051]

The Keeps apparently didn't work on your. Lol.

[@ThePixelated_kris]

@@j7ndominica051 he didnt have it by the time he did have it he lost his hair

[@Olliethesnowman]

My favorite shiny headed KZbinr😂😅😊🎉🎉😅

[@hansolowe19]

Who's your second favourite?

[@SnkobArts]

Same 😂

[@marcbeebee6969]

😂

[@PolskiKrajowa]

Vsauce

[@TheJudge_Carls_Junior_Rep]

Micheal Here

[@justinpaul3110]

Ive had a very hard time believing that the USAF would've gone over 30 years without replacing the capabilities that the SR 71 was providing.

[@julianweidner8387]

What if they didn’t replace the sr-71. Could modern tech complete the mission objectives of an sr-71? Until super recent, I believe the answer is yes. I’m not committed to that opinion. It’s just a thread

[@liddz434]

Well that’s why they said that U2 spy planes and satellites have been doing it.

[@Strykenine]

Two words: Spy sattelites.

[@justinpaul3110]

@strykenine7902 spy satellites can be tracked and their orbits are predictable. This became apparent after the retirement of the Blackbird. Having a high flying, hypersonic spy plane can theoretically be anywhere within a matter of hours and cannot be tracked and planned on like a satellite can.

[@texasthib2029]

@@Strykenine satellites aren’t an end all be all dude to their revolution around the earth stealth drones could have a near 100 percent up time due to air refueling

[@flyer037]

You've forgotten a possibility of WHY they may have been spotted. Not necessarily because they want to "tease" the existence, but if they have been flying for 10+ years and they have been spotted 3 times, it is possible that these were "unscheduled" appearances. If there was an in flight emergency and the aircraft had to be diverted during a flight, it would appear in places at times it was not planned to be, and therefore seen.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

3:00 - Chapter 1 - What we think we know 7:45 - Chapter 2 - What we suspect 11:35 - Chapter 3 - What it might be doing

[@mtgdreamer]

Suggestion: Do a video on the Patriot Missle system. A video on a system able to hit a missed with another missle at supersonic speed sounds fun

[@LRRPFco52]

An actual Patriot senior leader instructor has already posted a bunch of videos on the Patriot system that far exceed anything you'll see on this channel.

[@mtgdreamer]

@@LRRPFco52 I would like to see him do it. I was a Sargent in a Patriot battalion.

[@dominicbeltz9057]

@@mtgdreamer habitual line crosser is the expert of the patriot system on this platform

[@l.b8896]

@@LRRPFco52you talkin about my boy HLC? I love Mr. LineCrosser

[@LRRPFco52]

@@l.b8896 👍

[@JustRootsAndLeaves]

I'm old enough to remember what the F-19 Stealth Fighter most definitely looked like after all the leaks by the pentagon and various credible bread-crumbs. Each bit of information confirmed the last and comprehensive picture of the F-19's shape and capability seemed to be agreed upon by all of the "experts"... until the F-117 was revealed.

[@pkt1213]

I few so many F-19 missions.

[@troydspain1099]

Frisbee

[@oxcart4172]

All those various "F-19s" looked so much better than the real thing!

[@matthewsutton5946]

Lol the F-19 design was intentionally made to be as far from the actual stealth as possible to confuse potential adversary nations. I remember it too. I built a model of it once along with another model that was supposed to be a Russian Stealth

[@static2430]

The X-47B Drone (looks identical but slightly smaller to this RQ-180) has been around for a while now in the US Navy and has been operating off of carriers.

[@johno1544]

They only built 2 of those for testing and they have already been mothballed. They considered sending them to a air museum

[@ianj3735]

They were retired in 2015 having met the objectives set for their development. The gained knowledge is notably being used with the MQ-25 program currently

[@static2430]

@@johno1544 ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

[@ameritoast5174]

@@static2430 ya to my understanding those were basically test platforms and very expensive. The tech and knowledge to be used in future programs.

[@jeremyholland4527]

It was used as technology demonstrator and it’s tech and what was learned was put into the ghostbat loyal wingman and stingray refueling drone.

[@joesikkens158]

I’ve been seeing either the RQ170 or RQ180 here in the Antelope Valley, CA: love right next to Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Skunkworks. Never knew the name till now. Looks amazing flying!

[@jtek2259]

Try to take pictures if you can! It would be amazing to see more pictures of these bad boys, though I know that threatens your own safety

[@cluistube]

You are in fact my favorite shiny headed youtuber Simon. Thanks for that. :)

[@MJ-zo5gb]

Mine is Scott Manly! 🤣

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Once its existence is confirmed, I can't wait to see the RQ-180 in action, in Ace Combat 8.

[@MrDalisclock]

Didn't ace combat 7 already do the drone thing pretty heavily?

[@mutantryeff]

One of the U-2 landing flight paths into Beale AFB is just slightly to the east of my house. I'd guess that it is no higher than 10K feet when heading north to Beale.

[@SuperpowerBroadcasting]

Such an awesome aircraft!

[@Istandby666]

Thank you for bring up the B-21 and the RQ-170 and going in to public domain information to clarify your information.

[@jameswhitehead6758]

Love the intro and the self-deprecating humor Simon.

[@erasmus_locke]

I'd love a video on that stolen RQ-170 in Iran

[@mattywanders]

Could you do an episode on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia? It's got to be the most terrifying bridge in the United States!

[@patrickkelly8095]

I love that bridge.

[@mattywanders]

@@patrickkelly8095 Wouldn't it make for a great episode?!

[@CrisMind]

Is it terrifying? I always love driving it

[@justinpaul3110]

Are you kidding? That is the coolest bridge in the USA! The toll sucks though.

[@patrickkelly8095]

@@mattywanders it would.

[@royduenas1192]

Awesome video, as always! I'm from Guam and know that there's a lot of strategic operations carried out from Anderson Air Force Base. The intelligence stated in this video coincides with how little information is known about the military reaction to China's presence in the waters near Guam. Our country may be guilty of a lot of things that are frowned upon, however, many don't understand the necessary steps that are needed to ensure our freedom and to sustain our way of life.

[@Yuki_Ika7]

Exactly!

[@Justin_Ebright]

That's why we avoid signing deals that ban weapons and such. It's not that we don't support the spirit or won't avoid using said weapons, it's just so we don't handcuff ourselves if an enemy nation does. If they aren't worried about a like-kind attack they'd be less likely to hesitate using them themselves.

[@nicklindberg90]

Best sponsorship on KZbin

[@jamesrochon2195]

Almost a Million!!🎉

[@nathancroke9602]

Nothing to do with the actual video content, but as a fellow shiny head, I've recently learnt that beards are harder work than a full head of hair!

[@batboy-xf3ki]

:::USAF::: "Awe, Simon! You love us!!!You really love us!" Jim Carry reference.

[@e.s.5529]

if the platform is operating in broad daylight over the United States and Guam and can be filmed and photographed easily ...then there are probably two to three other platforms that are radically more advanced and secretive, that's a guarantee. There are more than likely 4th and 5th generations of the TR-3b ISR airframe attached to the N.R.O.

[@SPCv4]

Evidence?

[@goldenhate6649]

Not necessarily. SR-71 flew over the US, so did the B2, so did the F-22. Just because it can be seen visually doesn't mean its not "the most" advanced. The things still have to fly long distance during testing and missions.

[@Yuki_Ika7]

Yup, or at least in development

[@Istandby666]

If it's flying, then it's old technology.

[@Istandby666]

@@goldenhate6649 The B-2 is a 1982 design. The F-22, is a 1988 design. My biological father worked on these program's.

[@zanemccune8759]

I've seen... something like this flying over Colorado, I live near Buckley Space Force Base. It was so high it basically blended into the sky, my eyes could tell the shape far better than my camera.

[@MarcinKryszak]

Nice sweater Simon

[@jrtstrategicapital560]

I can't wait for your review on Lockheeds alien reproduction vehicles...👌

[@tonymobbs7738]

there is also plant 42 that has a strong history with spycraft (and skunkworks). keep an eye on google maps occationally they will update and a spy craft of some sort will be out in the open

[@sojolly]

i heard many weird sounds in the night when i lived in east Palmdale.....

[@EmillioMelendez]

Your everyone’s favorite shiny headed KZbinr!

[@Fubblin]

The F-35 has filled some of the persistent ISR requirements by its mere presence in a battlespace due to its network system integration capabilities of enhancing awareness.

[@patrickkelly8095]

Until the Chinese hack the system and down all of the planes.

[@Yuki_Ika7]

True, but the RQ-180 might be able to go even higher and into more dangerous territory all while risking no Americans in the process (unless you count thier jobs if they crash the thing or leak it's specs or something other of the sort)

[@davepitts4479]

Flash thingy time!

[@thudthud5423]

Is it called the RQ-180? Good question. The original stealth fighter was long rumored to be designated the "F-19" and it turned out to be the F-117.

[@justinzak5025]

And wasn’t a fighter

[@Xenomorphine]

Rumours persist that the F-19 (whether purely in design or also in designation) existed and was separate to the F-117. There was also ASTRA and a number of others out there.

[@thudthud5423]

@@justinzak5025 True. It should have been designated "A-11", "A12" or "A-13" (I'm not sure where it would have fit in. It was given an "F" designation, probably for misleading purposes, I'm thinking. But, why was it "117"? I think there is an actual explanation, but I've held two personal theories (one is probably the answer): 1. For misleading purposes, it was given an engine designation. So, it would have a paper trail for accounting purposes, but those not in the know would think that funding was funneled into its program for engine development and not for an entire aircraft program. 2. Its in the "Century Series" of US military aircraft that included the F-100 Super Sabre and the F-111 Aardvark. As I recall, there are "F-112, F-113, F-114, F-115 and F-116" aircraft designations given to "borrowed" Soviet fighters in the US inventory whose squadrons are flown out of Groom Lake. It makes an awful lot of sense that the Stealth "Fighter's" designation would follow in the same series as its an "Area 51 Child" as well.

[@georgewright3949]

@@thudthud5423 well the F117 had a role not dissimilar to the F105 and F111 both were light bombers

[@user-xh2ji3eq4v]

You think about doing a megaproject video on the USS Monitor/ CSS Virginia

[@benkenobi7800]

Do the Lockheed Martín Cornorant next please!!!

[@paulkeenan2691]

With the expansion of the Aurura Project- perhaps TRB3 or the more latest edition TRB 10+ could make a mention.

[@dolphin265]

@@cancermcaids7688 well, rotodet engines are real even if the "aurora" isnt

[@paulkeenan2691]

@@cancermcaids7688 yeah and John Lear and Bob Lazar were the agents of reverse thinking

[@Ajax93]

I reckon they put everything into this, i think it might be able to fly all the way round the world.

[@JohnJohnson-dj2dv]

Nice that you used an old project jet for the slide photo that I worked with years ago...that would be the Northrop-Grumman X-47B. Awesome demonstration project and the awards we got were well deserved - IMHO!

[@trumptookthevaccine1679]

Do you know Aaron?

[@nephalos666]

WE LOVE YOU, SHINY HEAD MAN WHO ENTERTAINS US WITH HIS 20-SOME CHANNELS!!!!

[@ioanbota9397]

I like this powerful drone

[@raymidway624]

Their base might be where the RQ-170 operates as well. The area around the base is called Area 52. Same location where the F117 were stationed

[@brianv1988]

So it's kind of like the RQ ghost bat but that's a unmanned wingman the Australia is making ?...I really like the rq 170. Didn't even know there was another one then you have the global hawk and the mq4c- Triton was the replacement for the global hawk I could be wrong though

[@OdyTypeR]

I worked on F-16's back in the day, which had it's challenges, but I would hate to be a maintainer on one of these - having to take a knee and bow your head all the time...

[@RonnieRawdawg]

I've seen one of these before there's one at my local airbase

[@zmblion]

I swear ive seen this a few yrs ago but idk i could be wrong but it was pretty similar. The air force does have a base not far away so idk.

[@kenhelmers2603]

These are fun :)

[@HemiDude100]

The Ucav? *bf4 flashbacks intensify*

[@lilpaper3718]

question what do you use to clean your beard

[@eprohoda]

How are things?!Omg~ so epic drone. catch ya later! 💪

[@angelosasso1653]

If it should fly faster, wouldn't it be better to have a more arrow like wing? I would think, the design resembling the B-2/B-21, endurance and maybe height is the name of the game.

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

With the thin air up at 80-100k/feet, it might be more useful to have the longer wings for stability. It probably isn't going as fast as an SR-71.

[@angelosasso1653]

@@paulmurgatroyd6372 Exactly, longer wings for higher endurance and greater altitude but for speed, this alignment is not optimal, I would guess it is flying subsonic. As pointed out in the video: It is most likely a replacement for the U-2 with added stealth and unmanned.

[@joedufour8188]

KZbin experts.... people who can't do simple long division but think they figured out what literal geniuses and experts didn't.

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

@@joedufour8188 Miserable bastards... people who just make comments to moan at everyone because why not.

[@emjackson2289]

Just remember the D21 . . . . launched from the back of the A12, so dodgy to launch that they launched them from the B52 but then they realised the SR71 was simply better than the D21.

[@angelosasso1653]

The D-21 has a special place in my heart. It was also ahead of its time. Sadly didn't have the success its mother had...

[@TheAslakVind]

Just noticed a very public SOME post by the Air Force, retiring one of its U-2 Dragon Lady rec planes. I was curious, why that was made. Maybe it is not chained up to this new drone. Maybe the airframe just had it. But still..

[@FazdArayTrkRdrtoInterceptOnTgt]

@13:39 Those are not Global Hawks, they are USN MQ-4C Tritons.

[@coadypurchase923]

The usaf has a rich history of admitting to to its assets once they’ve become obsolete. I love the anxt they create by toying with us

[@hnd450]

Chicagoooooooooo!

[@pipinghotpizzarolls]

Thanks chrome dome 💚

[@brendakrieger7000]

Thanks!

[@Heretic44]

Love the videos but the adverts are funny!! Keeps… yeah hows that getting on for you bulbshine? 😂 why would i buy it when it clearly isnt working your scalp hahahhahah

[@soulesslemming]

There’s footage of 2 of these flying east of Colorado Springs Colorado at extremely high altitude.

[@Alpha_Joe]

it's reminded me of the mq101 "where's the arsenal bird"

[@Insectoid_]

There are far more aircraft although many are test craft. Michael Schratt does some great presentations

[@getnohappy]

Did not know the u2 was still in active service!

[@tonymobbs7738]

they have 2 or so based here in the UK

[@_KaiTheGamer_]

Omg he really is my favorite shiny-headed youtuber

[@AnglerAnthony]

I’ve seen one in Palmdale.

[@stankythecat6735]

I swear to god , I saw one of theses over Palm Springs at night. It’s crazy looking

[@cheyennekline9674]

Definitely exists, I saw it flying over the Rocky Mountains when I was about 13. The military was doing some sketch shit in Colorado.

[@logicalsnuffleupagus1822]

Hey Simon, it would be really cool if you narrated a full-length Attenborugh style nature documentary. If my wife's huge knockers could speak they'd have your voice. I've been watching you since ancient times. Always believed you'd make a great nature documentary. Respectfully requested. 🙏

[@giacalonebuilding4443]

Lol wtf 😂

[@happygolucky143]

6:47 i think i heard EQ Hawkeye 🤔

[@JoeC92]

Can we get a video on the Longbow Apache helicopter

[@chat-1978]

Isn't it warm there😅😅 Air-conditioning set to mega project temperatures?

[@Cheiff117]

Shiny head , dashing beard

[@finscreenname]

Seems like stealth could be overcome by having a satellite overhead and radar on the ground. These planes reflect radar away from the broadcaster's receivers but those waves have to go somewhere and the satellite could pick up the big hole in the sky. Also these planes may have a radar signature the size of a bird but what bird flies at 40,000 doing a couple hundred mph?

[@apolloaero]

That's not how radar works. When giving RCS values equivalent to birds or insects, it's just to give you an idea on how small the RCS is. It doesn't mean you can see everything or that you're tracking millions of insects in hopes of catching one going 500 mph

[@TheRealWilliamWhite]

Even then it's more likely that the radar malfunctioned then that there is something there

[@TheNanotag]

RCS isn't a single number; it varies based on multiple factors - frequency, angle relative to radar, and polarization.

[@10p6]

Flying wings 'DO NOT REDUCE DRAG', they leverage lift in and reduce weight in a slimmer unibody.

[@cr0ss0ut]

Interesting! I was on a flight from Sacramento to San Diego looking out of the window at the ground below. Then I saw a really fast moving aircraft shaped EXACTLY like the rendering at 16:00 it was black on top and absolutely hauling ass flying eastward about 1000 - 2000 feet below us before passing under the plane i was in. i thought i had a pretty clear view of it. unfortunately i was too quick for me to whip out my phone for a picture tho i did try.

[@spencerstevens2175]

I'm sure they flew this highly secret plane in the direct path of your known flight path

[@BV-fr8bf]

Wing span of 170 feet? That almost as large as a B-52!

[@m1t2a1]

Jack Northrop would love this.

[@kkeliipio]

A-12 turned into the sr71. AF not acknowledging its existence could be because it is for another agency... Just a thought!

[@Arenesz]

IT DID FLY NOT LONG AGO!! YAY!!

[@MTBScotland]

hope it is harder to electronically interfere with than the RQ-170 😂

[@PoiPoi5189]

Neat

[@pat8988]

“Conduct electronic warfare attacks”. (10:10). That would be one sure fire way to destroy your stealth.

[@trumptookthevaccine1679]

You don’t know

[@ZayahFeaster]

Simon, please do a crossover with Babish Cooking University 😭😭😭

[@dunatyphon5416]

HA! The RQ-170 wasn't "TAKEN OVER"..... it was hand delivered! 🤣🤣🤣

[@JIJO333]

Loved the AD, a bald dude talking about & advertising hair lose preventing shampoo. The proof? look at his head!

[@JDFloyd]

"It's Aliens!!!"

[@MrAbraxus666]

*does the DiCaprio pointing meme* That's the Batwing Folks...That's the Batwing.

[@femain1788]

Keep making videos about fighter and stealth jets and they might just try to sell you one. 😂

[@craigme3014]

stuff the head hair treatment! go for the beard! disclaimer i do not have one. nice jumper change!

[@zenmaster24]

a 50m wingspan? thats the length of an olympic size swimming pool!

[@danielwhite8838]

Uh. 12:45. Satellites have been giving real time high resolution imagery and data for decades. And the U2 platform/program is roughly 70 years old.

[@jcdefrancis]

More like 2nd favorite. Babish #1!

[@carlstanland5333]

Shikaka! 🛖🦇

[@liamegan6721]

the us military has been in goblin mode since 1941

[@pparr052971]

Why does the bearded egg sound like a Bond villain?

[@TheNanotag]

Look up 753 TEG patch and you'll see what you're calling the rq-180

[@benatkins9148]

The 21 is gorgeous x

[@dominicmillns5856]

You’re favourite shiny headed youtuber here! - Babish has entered the ch - Vsauce has entered the ch - FACT BOI HAS ENDED THE CHAT.

[@Pavel_Poluian]

The first approach to this secret technology appeared 100 years ago! Pitts Sky Car - the device is an ancestor of contemporary flying saucers. This umbrella plane looks funny, but it is unlikely that the American inventor spent money on making the machine just for fun. The flight principle based on generating compression under a vibrating plane is no worse than the flight principle of traditional airplanes. When the device was being created, engineers realized that it would give a higher lifting force. Step by step it turned out during the tests that the device could perform a flight if the oscillation frequency was measured in megahertz and the amplitude of oscillation in millimeters. But at that time there were no technologies to get the total power of vibration and achieve supersonic frequency. The aircraft-?building company of Chance Vought cooperated with the Naval Department. The Skimmer flying saucer that appeared after WWII was a result of the cooperation. It is believed to be an experimental variant of a propeller-?driven airplane, however it is not ruled out that Chance Vought made the model especially for running tests of the aerodynamic lift of electrokinetic engines. In the late 1940s, first flying saucers appeared in the US. They resembled telephone loudspeakers: impulse electromagnets made one or several huge membranes beat the air at a megahertz frequency. And a streamline top part of the device provided the difference of drag forces on the top and on the bottom. But still some facts pertaining to the strange device remained unclear. A flying saucer could not generate any lifting force until it threw something off the way rockets did. This is a ring whirl: it does not leave vacuum to intake a flying saucer. It is necessary to keep a saucer on the ring whirl just for a couple of microseconds, the period within which a new whirl is generated. Flying saucers with impulse electromagnets were heavy and could not cover long distances. So, Americans had to use submarines to deliver them to the Soviet shores that gave rise to stories telling that UFOs emerged from under water. Later, new devices appeared where no electromagnetic field was used to shake a propelling membrane. The bodies of such devices were made of piezoceramic, and vibration appeared thanks to the piezoelectric effect (we know that piezoelectric tweeters make the sound in electronic alarm clocks and mobile phones). The new generation apparatuses were no longer saucers but spheres, ellipsoids and other three-?dimensional figures haloed with ionized gas. The USSR got UFOs of its own in the 1960s-70s. Once, Soviet Academician Shklovsky asserted in the popular informational program Vremya (Time) that there were no other creatures besides earth dwellers in the Universe. It sounded like an official statement of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party saying that no aliens ever existed, and all reports alleging that people witnessed UFOs were misinformation. Special committees immediately started censoring newspaper publications and deleted everything that could be connected with UFO visits and aliens. At that very period Americans already had the third generation of flying saucers, dark objects with just few zones on them glowing. Those were whirl activators: the glow on the bottom to make the object fly and the glow on the side (so-?called illuminators) to make it move to the sides. Now used motor panel. They are arranged as a plasma TV screen. But the cell arresters is the tube of the rail launcher in cities. Plasma sparks popping up with great speed thousands of times per second - this creates a toroidal flux rings, which propel the apparatus.

[@gunnerroo6514]

Friendly Advanced UAV entering the AO.

[@Emma15969]

That nice smooth bald head, dont be ashamed it's amazing.

[@wesselgroenewegen59]

The speculation that it might be able to go supersonic seems to be rather contradictory to it's shape. It has a too long wing to be able to go supersonic (drag) and be structurally stable when going supersonic.

[@pipinghotpizzarolls]

This model is probably more focused on developing radar and thermal stealth. Knowing them, the supersonic model isn’t so easy to spot

[@shinkicker404]

Could it be possible that the wings sweep back further in flight to allow it to go super sonic like the B-1 Bomber?

[@jakenovak2556]

Grass doesn't grow on a busy street bud ;)