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The Northrop Grumman RQ-180 is an American stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance aircraft. ==Development== The RQ-180 appears to be a follow on to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems project which was cancelled in late 2005 when the United States Navy (USN) wanted a carrier-based aircraft (which led to the UCAS-D) while the United States Air Force (USAF) wanted a larger, long-range global strike platform. In December 2005, the program was split in two, with the USN starting the UCAS-D program which created the Northrop Grumman X-47B, and the USAF starting a "classified program." The program was unmasked in Aviation Week & Space Technology in a 9 December 2013 cover story following several months of research. The RQ-180 was secretly funded through the USAF's classified budget. Northrop Grumman was given the task to build the aircraft after a competition in which it defeated Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman is believed to have been awarded a development contract for the RQ-180 in 2008, with deliveries of low-rate production aircraft beginning in 2013. Satellite imagery of Area 51 reportedly shows large hangars that could house the or larger wingspan of the aircraft. The RQ-180 may also be related to the expansion of Northrop Grumman's production facility in Palmdale, California.〔 According to Aviation Week, the secret development of the RQ-180 explains public statements of USAF officials calling for penetrating Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities with no public acknowledgement of an effort to create one. It may explain the service's lack of commitment for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and instead favoring of higher priority "classified platforms". The USAF also does not want to buy and maintain large numbers of MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper systems in order to have an aircraft that would have the ability to penetrate denied airspace and persistently provide ISR coverage.〔 The RQ-180 may also be responsible for the termination of the Next-Generation Bomber program in 2009 from costs, and the emergence of the follow-on Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program that would be cheaper and work with the UAV. The USAF MQ-X program that was to find a platform to replace the Reaper may have been cancelled in 2012 because of the RQ-180. Creation of the RQ-180 is believed to be related to the LRS-B program, which will have a new strategic bomber operate with a "family of systems" including an advanced air-launched cruise missile, conventional Prompt Global Strike missiles, and electronic attack and ISR platforms; the RQ-180 would appear to fill the electronic attack and ISR roles.〔(Analysis: Secret UAV Revelation Raises More Questions than Answers ) - News.USNI.org, 9 December 2013〕 On 27 October 2015, the LRS-B development contract was also awarded to Northrop Grumman. Lockheed Martin is developing its own solution to the problem of operating an ISR in defended airspace, known as the SR-72, that relies on flying at hypersonic speeds. Northrop Grumman's stealth design was seen as less susceptible to acquisition problems and risky technologies and could be put into service sooner, as soon as 2015.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Northrop Grumman RQ-180」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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