IN-DEPTH PHOTO ANALYSIS OF THE SUPPOSED RQ-170 SENTINEL DRONE IN IRANIAN HANDS
In this piece we are going to look at the photo evidence in-depth, then we are going to talk about the unique appearance and qualities of the RQ-170 and it’s possible origins. Finally, we are going to talk about the circumstances that could have occurred that would have resulted in such an aircraft being left almost totally intact after a supposed crash or loss total of control. This should round out a 360 degree picture of what is going on with the incredible developments on this story in the last 24 hours as well as address the explosion of chatter heard on television, in newspapers and especially on the internet concerning this topic.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE:
RED ARROW: This is very reminiscent of the radar diffuser/mesh grill found on the first generation stealth F-117A Nighthawk. This is a key point as the RQ-170 most likely was designed using rapid prototype efficiencies, commercially available subsystems, and a balance between low observability and risk to national security in mind. This is what I call “expendable stealth.”
BLUE ARROW: Although the airframe is generally intact, the leading edge has been scuffed and even perforated in some areas. This is a tell-tail sign of a hard, but flat landing.
RED ARROW: Why nobody has taken the high-resolution photo files and put them into Photoshop to blow out the details is beyond me. A huge tell in whether or not this thing is real or a fake would be what lies behind the intake radar diffuser. In this case it appears to be exactly what should be there, a jet motor with possibly some type of radar blocker covering the fan face. If this was a hastily designed mockup I seriously doubt the Iranians, who had full control of what images were released, would have formed such a smooth inlet and actually placed a motor inside. This is possibly the largest piece of evidence found during my analysis, and you have not seen it anywhere else but aviationintel.com! Sometimes it actually pays to be a professional photographer in these matters because you can utilize basic editing tools to bring out details that are not apparent in the images in the state that they are distributed.
This picture highlights the smooth lines of the specimen, it has well-formed continuous radius edges.
When the same picture is filtered, converted to black and white and cropped down we see some sort of seam filler covering something that seems to be designed into the airframe’s leading edge. The black tape is also a mystery but this contoured covering material is there for a reason. Is there a radar array imbedded behind this, similar to the B-2? Or are these possibly antennas for the aircraft’s ESM suite?
This is the top of the same picture blown up and heavily filtered.
Blue Arrow- The “access panel” and fine details on the spine of the machine do match the fuzzy pictures we have seen of the Sentinel flying out of its home base at Kandahar airfield. These broad lines actually appear to have some dimension to them, very reminiscent of the tape and gap fillers used on the F-117, B-2 and F-22 around access points and radar reflecting edges, although even then they a look a little “drawn on” in this picture. Frankly, from this angle its hard to tell.
Orange Arrow- At first I thought this was truly the tell that would determine that this thing is a bogus specimen. Those screw holes and that access plate looks totally drawn on, in fact it looks like they actually drew one line to long and abruptly stopped once they went past the corner. We have all done that when stenciling as kids right? The screw holes look totally fake, like they were just sharpied on the thing to make it look like a functioning machine. At first glance, this evidence really had me convinced that this was a prop of sorts, built in haste by the Iranians to satisfy a propaganda need at home and the world’s hunger for evidence that they actually did have a Sentinel in their grasp. But then I was able to capture the picture below…
Blue & Red Arrows- Once again, in this picture you can see that stray line that emanates from the bottom left hand side of the access hatch closest to the intake. But on closer evaluation it is apparent that this is most likely a piece of tape sealer that is come up on that edge. Further, an outline of some degrading tape sealer seems to be viewable along the area where the black “screws” are visible. In other words, it looks like these apparent defects are actually just that, defects, and not “drawn on” to the machine to make it look more realistic and representative of the photos available on the net. There may very well be an operational use for indicating where the panel and it’s screws lie underneath a sealant of some type for future maintenance access. So basically this went from a deal breaker for me to an area in question, but in no means a total disqualifier, as the photos available do not show close enough detail to rule one way or another.
Yellow & Green Arrows- This looks very much like the seams and slight variances in color and texture seen in the low quality photos captured out of Kandahar of the RQ-170. Further, these tape sealers or antenna cowlings really run with normal stealth manufacturing still seen today, but its especially prevalent on 20-year-old designs such as the B-2 Spirit. The taping and treating of service panels and radar reflective joints is also the notorious reason as to why operating stealth aircraft is so cost prohibitive. Its simply very time-consuming to constantly have to keep up the stealth coatings, especially in high use areas like access panels. Once again, nothing here is definitive but it’s also not a disqualifier in any means.
In this piece we are going to look at the photo evidence in-depth, then we are going to talk about the unique appearance and qualities of the RQ-170 and it’s possible origins. Finally, we are going to talk about the circumstances that could have occurred that would have resulted in such an aircraft being left almost totally intact after a supposed crash or loss total of control. This should round out a 360 degree picture of what is going on with the incredible developments on this story in the last 24 hours as well as address the explosion of chatter heard on television, in newspapers and especially on the internet concerning this topic.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE:
RED ARROW: This is very reminiscent of the radar diffuser/mesh grill found on the first generation stealth F-117A Nighthawk. This is a key point as the RQ-170 most likely was designed using rapid prototype efficiencies, commercially available subsystems, and a balance between low observability and risk to national security in mind. This is what I call “expendable stealth.”
BLUE ARROW: Although the airframe is generally intact, the leading edge has been scuffed and even perforated in some areas. This is a tell-tail sign of a hard, but flat landing.
RED ARROW: Why nobody has taken the high-resolution photo files and put them into Photoshop to blow out the details is beyond me. A huge tell in whether or not this thing is real or a fake would be what lies behind the intake radar diffuser. In this case it appears to be exactly what should be there, a jet motor with possibly some type of radar blocker covering the fan face. If this was a hastily designed mockup I seriously doubt the Iranians, who had full control of what images were released, would have formed such a smooth inlet and actually placed a motor inside. This is possibly the largest piece of evidence found during my analysis, and you have not seen it anywhere else but aviationintel.com! Sometimes it actually pays to be a professional photographer in these matters because you can utilize basic editing tools to bring out details that are not apparent in the images in the state that they are distributed.
This picture highlights the smooth lines of the specimen, it has well-formed continuous radius edges.
When the same picture is filtered, converted to black and white and cropped down we see some sort of seam filler covering something that seems to be designed into the airframe’s leading edge. The black tape is also a mystery but this contoured covering material is there for a reason. Is there a radar array imbedded behind this, similar to the B-2? Or are these possibly antennas for the aircraft’s ESM suite?
This is the top of the same picture blown up and heavily filtered.
Blue Arrow- The “access panel” and fine details on the spine of the machine do match the fuzzy pictures we have seen of the Sentinel flying out of its home base at Kandahar airfield. These broad lines actually appear to have some dimension to them, very reminiscent of the tape and gap fillers used on the F-117, B-2 and F-22 around access points and radar reflecting edges, although even then they a look a little “drawn on” in this picture. Frankly, from this angle its hard to tell.
Orange Arrow- At first I thought this was truly the tell that would determine that this thing is a bogus specimen. Those screw holes and that access plate looks totally drawn on, in fact it looks like they actually drew one line to long and abruptly stopped once they went past the corner. We have all done that when stenciling as kids right? The screw holes look totally fake, like they were just sharpied on the thing to make it look like a functioning machine. At first glance, this evidence really had me convinced that this was a prop of sorts, built in haste by the Iranians to satisfy a propaganda need at home and the world’s hunger for evidence that they actually did have a Sentinel in their grasp. But then I was able to capture the picture below…
Blue & Red Arrows- Once again, in this picture you can see that stray line that emanates from the bottom left hand side of the access hatch closest to the intake. But on closer evaluation it is apparent that this is most likely a piece of tape sealer that is come up on that edge. Further, an outline of some degrading tape sealer seems to be viewable along the area where the black “screws” are visible. In other words, it looks like these apparent defects are actually just that, defects, and not “drawn on” to the machine to make it look more realistic and representative of the photos available on the net. There may very well be an operational use for indicating where the panel and it’s screws lie underneath a sealant of some type for future maintenance access. So basically this went from a deal breaker for me to an area in question, but in no means a total disqualifier, as the photos available do not show close enough detail to rule one way or another.
Yellow & Green Arrows- This looks very much like the seams and slight variances in color and texture seen in the low quality photos captured out of Kandahar of the RQ-170. Further, these tape sealers or antenna cowlings really run with normal stealth manufacturing still seen today, but its especially prevalent on 20-year-old designs such as the B-2 Spirit. The taping and treating of service panels and radar reflective joints is also the notorious reason as to why operating stealth aircraft is so cost prohibitive. Its simply very time-consuming to constantly have to keep up the stealth coatings, especially in high use areas like access panels. Once again, nothing here is definitive but it’s also not a disqualifier in any means.
Last edited: