Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- Sentinel
- Variants / configurations
- See the named configuration and evidence notes
- Operators / programme customers
- US Air Force
Evidence & current status
The sources below establish the stated programme milestone or supplier claim. They do not independently verify every configuration, delivery total or advertised performance figure.
Role and programme
The Air Force fact sheet identifies the programme’s reconnaissance and surveillance role, its Lockheed Martin development lineage and Air Combat Command operation. That provides firmer identity evidence than estimates inferred from photographs.
The official record does not publish a numerical airframe specification, sensor inventory or current fleet total. Those fields are left unknown rather than filled with speculative engine types or dimensions. This is a case where a useful reference entry can document identity and purpose without pretending that classified performance is publicly established. RQ-180 reporting concerns a separate purported programme and is not an alias.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Low-observable uncrewed reconnaissance aircraft | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Reconnaissance / surveillance mission; detailed fit undisclosed | Published specification for the named configuration. Maxima are not necessarily achievable together. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- US Air Force RQ-170 Sentinel fact sheet (opens in a new tab)Government / operator