The U.S. Air Force's New RQ-180 Drone Is Flying From A Base In Northern California

Northrop Grumman’s X-47B, which the new, top-secret RQ-180 is thought to resemble. Courtesy Northrop Grumman

Popular Mechanics: The U.S. Air Force's Secretive New Drone Is a B-2 Lookalike

But it follows in the footsteps of spy planes like the SR-71 and U-2.

* The U.S. Air Force's secretive new RQ-180 drone is flying from a base in Northern California.
* The drone reportedly resembles the B-2 bomber.
* The RQ-180 was designed and flown at Area 51 and is rumored to have flown to the North Pole as a graduation test.

The U.S. Air Force is secretly flying a huge new drone from a base in Northern California. The RQ-180 a high altitude, long endurance drone reconnaissance drone, is reportedly operating from Beale Air Force Base, the former home of the SR-71 Blackbird and U-2 spy planes. Unlike other drones, the RQ-180 is designed to evade radar, conducting its mission in secret.

AvWeek published a lengthy read on the RQ-180. The magazine, long known as “AvLeak”, lived up to its reputation by revealing many previously unknown details about the secret aircraft. According to the article, the RQ-180 was built by Northrop Grumman and is based on an unmanned aerial combat vehicle (UCAV) design the company pitched to the U.S. Air Force in 2005.

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WNU Editor: It looks like this drone will be following the footsteps of the SR-71 and U-2.