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Is This the Drone You’re Looking for?

Is This the Drone You’re Looking for?

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Allegedly captured RQ-170 image from PressTVAs video of the missing RQ-170 drone has come out of Iran, we should take a moment to assess what the loss of this aircraft could mean. American air power is without a doubt one our greatest military strengths. However, the consequences of losing the aircraft remain unseen.

On the technology side, the drone has been deemed by many to be a “stealth” plane, though it is not clear just how stealth the RQ-170 may actually be. Comparing the aircraft to other notable stealth planes, like the B-2 Spirit, F-22 Raptor, or retired F-117 Night Hawk, the RQ-170 is likely lacking some of the stealth features prominent on these other planes. The fact that it’s a flying wing design is not technologically significant in itself, being that powered flying wings have been flown since the early 1940s.

While Iran is unlikely to be able to take advantage of the drone’s captured technology, its possible sale to Russia or China may prove to be much more concerning. The Russians and Chinese are masters at reverse engineering. At the end of WWII, the Soviets virtually duplicated down to the last bolt B-29 bombers that landed in their territory. The Soviet atomic program borrowed heavily from espionage of the Manhattan project. The Soviet Buran Space Shuttle looked incredibly similar to the American version. The Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport, commonly known as “Concordski,” also looked suspiciously similar to the Concorde, despite taking flight a year prior to its Franco-British counterpart.

The Chinese are certainly no slouches when it comes to duplicating technology either. Any brief look at the consumer electronics industry shows their knack for creating cheap yet functional knockoffs of just about any device out on the market. They’ve even managed to counterfeit an Apple store!

Part of the concern relating to the potential compromise of the RQ-170’s technology is the sharing of technology with other aircraft across the U.S. inventory. Given the aging and weary American arsenal of combat aircraft, there has been an ongoing effort to replace these planes with a 5th-generation fighter.

Their designated replacement is the technologically impressive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In theory, variations of this jet may be employed across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. This cross-service procurement simplifies production, maintenance, and training, ideally making the program cheaper than purchasing different aircraft from several defense companies.

However, the costs of the F-35 program have fluctuated wildly due to a variety of reasons, bringing us back to the famed Norman Augustine quote: “In the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one aircraft.” But the F-35 is certainly needed, and its use by several allied countries also promises to simplify supply chain and compatibility issues with regards to ordnance, a problem NATO ran into during combat over Libya.

Yet despite the advantages of “buying in bulk,” a smaller variety of aircraft threatens to make weaknesses more exploitable.  Potential design flaws could harm the readiness of large portions of America’s future air assets. For instance, the entire F-22 fleet has been grounded twice since 2010 due to design flaws. The B-2 was grounded in 2008 after the crash and loss of one of the billion dollar aircraft in Guam. With over 2,000 F-35s set for purchase, problems grounding the fleet could have potentially devastating effects on our national defense readiness. Couple this with technology or weaknesses that could potentially be exploited due to the loss of the RQ-170 or even an F-35 in combat, and the situation becomes a bit more worrisome.

That’s not to cause fear mongering over the loss of the stealth drone. Rather, it is to encourage thought over how we spend our money on sensitive and expensive technology across our armed forces when some of the most important tools employed over the war on terror have been fairly simple.

The famous MRAPs that have saved so many lives from IED explosions use relatively simple angled-hull technology realized in the Second World War to deflect explosions. MRAPs also come in varying designs made by several different companies, complicating insurgent efforts to technologically overcome the entire fleet. The A-10 Warthog, an old venerable ground-pounding aircraft has found new life, new love, and refuse to die. Body armor and rudimentary medical training have saved countless numbers of lives.

Ultimately, the RQ-170 lost over Iran succeeded in its mission. The loss of the aircraft is symbolic of what it was designed to do—perform a dangerous mission without risking the life of a pilot. Planes are replaceable—people are not, and in losing a technological asset we have saved a human asset. We must only hope now that the loss of that technology doesn’t jeopardize the lives of our servicemen and women later down the line.