Almost as interesting as Blackstar. . .

. . . .but not quite.

“Printed headline: Second Thoughts

The Pentagon is taking another look at an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft design that it rejected more than 10 years ago in favor of Northrop Grumman’s popular Global Hawk. The newest version of the single-engine Global Hawk, the RQ-4B, will carry a 3,000-lb. payload and generate extra electrical power to run a combination of radar, electro-optical/infrared and signals intelligence sensors. But that’s not enough for the power-hungry sensors the Defense Dept. now wants to put into the sky. Planners are back looking at concepts similar to the two-engine, 125-ft.-wingspan, low-signature, B-2-like design offered for the competition. It was to fly at 70,000-80,000 ft. and pull from an inventory of two dozen classified engines in storage. The engines were left over from the D-21 drone program, which was to develop a vehicle designed for launch from the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. A hint as to what the military and intelligence agencies are after now: The earlier design was stealthy and would carry weapons as part of its 10,000-20,000-lb. payload. It would be able to launch from an air base in the U.S., fly anywhere in the world, and return without refueling. “