The US Air Force has recently confirmed on Tuesday to Aviation Week that an unmanned aircraft known as the “Beast of Kandahar” truly exists. This USAF statement is the first to detail the aircraft.

The plane, an RQ-170 Sentinel, was reported seen in late 2007 flying out of Afghanistan. The plane is believed to have a tailless flying wing design with sensor pods faired into the upper surface of each wing. It was developed by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), better known as Skunk Works.

An official of the Air Force revealed that they were “developing a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces.”

The RQ-170 Sentinel is remotely flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada.

Still, there remain a lot of questions about the Beast of Kandahar. What we know is that it sports an unusual color–medium grey overall. The usual color of stealth vehicles made for high altitudes is dark gray or overall black.

(via Satnews.com)