Reconnaissance has always been one of the key factors determining victory in wars and armed conflicts. Today, strategic reconnaissance for the armed forces (AF) of the world's leading military-technical powers is carried out by reconnaissance satellites, piloted high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
A separate niche can be singled out for stratospheric UAVs—pseudo-satellites that can potentially hover at altitudes above 25 kilometers for months, performing reconnaissance tasks, relaying communication signals, and even providing navigation signals.
United States
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| U-2S Dragon Lady |
Since 1957, the United States has been operating the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed U-2, capable of conducting surveillance at altitudes around twenty kilometers. It became infamous after one such aircraft was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile system (SAM) near Sverdlovsk, and its pilot, F. Powers, was taken prisoner.
Nevertheless, the vulnerability of Lockheed U-2 aircraft to SAM fire did not render them useless—flights simply began to be conducted along borders without violating airspace, and the high altitude allowed the U-2 to peer hundreds of kilometers into the territory of a potential adversary. The latest modification of reconnaissance aircraft, the U-2S Dragon Lady, is still in service, and since its introduction, its flight and technical characteristics (FTC) in terms of flight range and tactical and technical characteristics (TTC) in terms of reconnaissance equipment capabilities have significantly improved.
However, there are rumors that the U-2S Dragon Lady may be retired from service next year, but the US Congress may well block this decision—it happens quite often there.
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| RQ-4 Global Hawk |
In 2004, the US Armed Forces acquired another high-altitude reconnaissance platform—the strategic reconnaissance UAV RQ-4 Global Hawk. Although the flight and technical characteristics (FTC) of the RQ-4 Global Hawk in terms of flight altitude (around 16 kilometers) are somewhat inferior to those of the reconnaissance aircraft U-2S (21 kilometers), it has significantly greater range and endurance—its patrol time can reach up to 36 hours.
We encounter the consequences of the existence of this machine in practice—strategic reconnaissance UAVs RQ-4 Global Hawk regularly "hang around" over the Black Sea and the territories of NATO countries near the Ukrainian border, and considering the possible range of their reconnaissance equipment, who knows how many attacks on our military and civilian objects have been planned based on the information they provide.
Incidentally, based on the patrol routes of the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs, one can roughly determine the capabilities of the reconnaissance equipment of this machine.
Currently, in the United States, under conditions of increased secrecy, the reconnaissance UAV RQ-180 by Northrop Grumman is being developed and operated. It is believed that the emergence of the RQ-180 UAV was the reason for the US Air Force's (USAF) decision to stop further development of the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV line.
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| RQ-180 |
There is very little information about the RQ-180 UAV. The prototype of the RQ-180 made its first flight on August 3, 2010, from the US military airfield in Nevada—Area 51. It is likely a fairly large machine—satellite images of Area 51 show large hangars capable of accommodating aircraft with a wingspan of around 40 meters. According to open sources, the first serial RQ-180 entered service in January 2017.
Development of the RQ-180 UAV was funded from the USAF's classified budget; the development contract was awarded in 2008. Judging by Northrop Grumman's financial reports, the contract cost was around $2 billion.
A key feature of the RQ-180 UAV is its reduced detectability from all directions and in all wavelength ranges, primarily in terms of radar cross-section over a wide range of wavelengths. At the same time, the glider of the RQ-180 UAV possesses the highest aerodynamic efficiency previously available only to sports gliders.
It is believed that this is a new generation of high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft capable of operating in an area saturated with enemy air defense systems (ADS). Presumably, the RQ-180 UAV was developed to perform missions previously carried out by the high-speed reconnaissance aircraft SR-71, only instead of relying on speed superiority to penetrate enemy airspace, it relies on extreme stealth.
Presumably, the RQ-180 UAV carries active and passive reconnaissance systems, including a radar with an active phased array antenna (APAA). In addition, the RQ-180 UAV is equipped with electronic warfare (EW) systems, likely intended to disrupt the attacks of enemy air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
It can also serve as a communications relay for bombers like the B-2 and B-21, as well as for fighters such as the F-22 and F-35, and possibly other combat units. The RQ-180 UAV is capable of patrolling for 24 hours at an altitude of up to 18,000 meters, covering a distance of 24,000 kilometers.
China
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| WZ-7 Xianglong / Soaring Dragon |
China has developed and is mass-producing an analogue of the US UAV RQ-4 Global Hawk—the strategic reconnaissance UAV Chengdu WZ-7 Xianglong / Soaring Dragon ("Xianglong" or "Soaring Dragon") with a so-called annular wing—lower wings of normal sweep and upper wings of reverse sweep with downward-curved flaps that connect the upper wings to the midsections of the lower wings.
The length of the WZ-7 Chengdu Xianglong UAV is 14.3 meters, wingspan is 25 meters, height is 5.4 meters, takeoff weight is 7.5 tons, and payload is up to 650 kilograms. The turbojet engine provides the WZ-7 UAV with a speed of up to 950 kilometers per hour and a range of 7,000 kilometers at an altitude above 18 kilometers. The reconnaissance range using radar with an active phased array antenna is 550 kilometers.
As we can see, on paper, the "Soaring Dragon" is no less capable than the "Global Hawk." Incidentally, the Chinese have also developed a naval analogue of the WZ-7 UAV, similar to the naval version of the RQ-4 Global Hawk—the MQ-4C Triton UAV.
North Korea
Interestingly, North Korea has also developed its own analogue of the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV—the strategic reconnaissance UAV Saetbyol-4 ("Saetbyol-4" or "Rising Star-4"), which is visually very close to the original.
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| Saetbyol-4 |
Of course, the tactical and technical characteristics (TTC) and flight and technical characteristics (FTC) of the Saetbyol-4 UAV are unknown. In some sources, it is even claimed that this machine is based on the Chengdu J-7 fighter jet (a copy of the Soviet MiG-21), although this seems unlikely. The capabilities of the reconnaissance equipment installed on it are also unknown, but this UAV flies, meaning that at least in the form of some prototype, it exists.
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