One of our readers has spotted something interesting in a satellite image
Although Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) have operated from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, for a long time, and some blurred videos and images are available on the Internet, you don’t easily find a satellite photo showing one of these stealthy drones, anywhere on the web.
That’s why the sat image we are talking about is particularly interesting.
Available on Terraserver website, it shows a “Beast of Kandahar” (as the RQ-170 was dubbed after being spotted for the first time at the U.S. airbase in Afghanistan) parked just in front of a shelter at Creech (click here for the sat image).
The date of the imagery is: Feb. 2, 2012.
The drone sits close to a Reaper drone and the proximity helps comparing the size of the two unmanned aircraft.
The RQ-170 is one of the most famous U.S. Air Force (and CIA) UAS.
Last year, Iran unveiled a copy of the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) drone allegedly manufactured by reverse-engineering of U.S. Sentinel drone captured in December 2011 while remotely operated from Creech AFB.
The Iranian version of the Sentinel drone was displayed next to the one that crash landed in northeastern Iran about three years ago. Suspicious footage allegedly showing the copycat Sentinel flying in Iran can be found here.
Image credit: Terraserver
H/T to Joshua Nyhus for the heads up.
