Drone
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http://www.liberation.fr/recherche/?q=drone
01 Dec 2009
Un drone mystérieux à Kandahar
Cliquer ici
pour voir la photo ci-dessous
http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/.a/6a00e008d663eb88340120a6ee283e970b-pi
Quel est cet engin, photographié
récemment sur la base de
Kandahar, dans le sud de
l'Afghanistan ?
Un drone assurément et de
nouvelle génération qui plus est.
Selon un témoignage, l'engin sort
peu et regagne aussitôt
un hangar américain. Pour le
reste, mystère !
Le magazine en ligne «Unmanned Vehicles»
évoquait en avril dernier ((2009),
un
«mystery UAV
operating in Afghanistan»,
un drone mystère opérant en
Afghanistan.
Il ressemblerait au P175 Polecat
de Lockheed-Martin,
mais il s'agirait d'un autre
modèle de drone de combat
américain, même si certains
envisagent qu'il puisse s'agir
d'un modèle britannique.
«Air et Cosmos» avait évoqué un tel programme
secret
(black program).
«Unmanned
Vehicles» a publié une
vue d'artiste de cet engin,
qui est reproduite ci-dessous.
Cliquer ici pour voir la photo
ci-dessous
http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/.a/6a00e008d663eb88340120a6ee38d7970b-pi
(Photo publiée sans garantie sur
son origine, impossible à vérifier)
08 Dec 2009
Le drone secret américain
s'inspire d'un projet de la Luftwaffe en 1945
Cliquer ici
pour voir le dessin ci-dessous
http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/.a/6a00e008d663eb883401287630af89970c-pi
Le drone furtif RQ-170 Sentinel,
dont l'US Air Force a reconnu
l'existence vendredi à la suite
de la publication d'une photo sur
ce blog, ressemble étrangement à
un projet de la Luftwaffe de 1945 :
le Horten Ho 229. Il s'agissait d'une aile
volante pilotée et propulsée
par deux réacteurs. Son envergure
était de 16,76 mètres et son poids
maximum de 8 tonnes.
Un prototype, sans propulsion,
vola comme un planeur le 1er mars 1944.
Cinq furent construits, mais
l'avion n'entra jamais en service.
Deux appareils furent capturés
par les Américains, ainsi que les plans.
Ils furent évalués par Northrop,
qui construira plus tard des ailes volantes
dont le célèbre bombardier furtif
B-2.
En 2009, les experts de Northrop
Grumman ont reconstruit l'un de ces
appareils.
La National Geographic Society
s'est intéressée à ce projet, lui consacrant
un reportage très complet que
l'on peut visionner ici.
Rédigé le 08 Dec 2009 à 16:30
http://www.liberation.fr/monde/0101607307-le-drone-furtif-americain-demasque
08 Dec 2009
Le drone furtif américain
démasqué.
Défense. La publication d’une
photo de l’appareil sur Libé.fr
a obligé les Américains a en
confirmer l’existence.
Il volait, mais il n’existait
pas. Du moins officiellement,
jusqu’à ce que l’US Air Force
reconnaisse l’existence
de cet appareil secret, vendredi
l’aviation américaine
n’avait guère le choix: une photo
de ce drone, un avion
sans pilote, avait été mise en
ligne trois jours plus tôt
sur le blog Secret-défense de
Libération.fr.
Difficile de nier plus longtemps
l’évidence.
Interrogée par le magazine
américain Aviation Week,
l’Usaf a confirmé qu’elle mettait
bien en œuvre un drone
sous le nom de RQ-170 Sentinel.
L’aviation américaine indique
avoir «développé un drone
furtif pour fournir des capacités
de reconnaissance et de
surveillance aux forces
déployées».
Il est mis en œuvre par le 30e
escadron de reconnaissance
(Nevada) sur la base afghane de
Kandahar.
Aile volante. C’est un engin espion, aux
formes furtives,
qui lui permettent d’échapper à
la détection des radars.
Il ne semblerait pas armé, comme
peuvent l’être les drones
classiques.
D’une vingtaine de mètres
d’envergure, il se présente sous
la forme d’une aile volante,
comme le bombardier furtif B-2,
ou le projet de drone de combat
Neuron, développé par
Dassault-Aviation.
Le RQ-170 est sorti des ateliers
de Lockheed-Martin,
les célèbres «Skunk Works», où
ont été produits le U-2,
le SR-71 ou le F-117, des avions
espions ou furtifs qui ont
parfois volé durant de longues
années, avant que leur
existence ne soit reconnue.
Cette discrétion des aviateurs
américains a donné naissance
à toutes les légendes entourant
la «zone 51», célèbre pour
abriter l’homme de Roswell!
Une première photo de ce drone
secret, très floue et lointaine,
avait été prise en 2007, ouvrant
la porte à toutes les spéculations
sur cet objet volant non
identifié.
Cette fois-ci, le cliché ne
laisse aucun doute. Il a été pris récemment
sur la grande base alliée de
Kandahar, dans le sud de l’Afghanistan,
à partir duquel il opère.
Libération, via son blog Secret-défense, a
obtenu cette image,
dont l’origine ne peut pas être
précisée pour des raisons de
protection des sources.
Depuis une semaine, les
spécialistes de l’aéronautique
s’interrogent sur ce drone. Sa
forme en fait un engin furtif, or, la furtivité
ne semble pas vraiment nécessaire
pour évoluer dans le ciel afghan.
Jusqu’à preuve du contraire, les
talibans et autres insurgés ne disposent
pas de radars et de missiles
sol-air sophistiqués.
Des drones classiques (Predator
ou Reaper américains, Harfang français)
volent tous les jours au-dessus
du pays, sans risques.
Cela pourrait donc signifier que
ce drone espion est utilisé pour des
missions discrètes au-dessus de
pays disposant d’une défense aérienne:
l’Iran? le Pakistan? L’est de la
Chine?
La transparence du Pentagone ne
va pas jusque-là.
(1)
http://secretdefense.blogs. liberation.fr/defense/
http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Horten_Nurflugels/Horten_Biography/body_horten_biography.html
Horten Biography
Who were the Hortens, and why haven't we
heard more about them?
Reimar and Walter Horten were two brothers
who were born and
raised in the
the early 20th
century.
This was an
exciting time for aviation, as almost
everything was new, and
there was plenty of
room for new designs.
Being blessed with parents who
supported
their efforts (to the extent of
having the dining
room become part of the
construction site!),
Reimar was fascinated by the idea of
airplanes
which consisted solely of a wing,
without the struts,
wires, wheels, and various surfaces
which
dominated the airplanes of the day.
Click here to see the photo
below.
Walter Horten with a tailless
model in 1929
Click here to see the photo
below.
Walter and Reimar with the Horten I
Click here to see the photo
below.
Models of the Ho II, Ho III, Ho IV, and Ho Vc
Click here
to see the photo below.
Click here to see the photo
below.
The War Years 1939-1945
Walter spent the
first six months of the war
as fighter pilot on
the western front, flying a
Me
brother, Wolfram, fell at
was shot down. I was
also trained as a Me 109
pilot, but later in
August 1940, transferred to the
glider pilot school in Braunschweig.
Here, 80 two-place
"Kranich" sailplanes were
being modified to carry
ammunition during
"
to be modified. This
became my task.
Operation
"Sea lion" was eventually cancelled,
which gave me the
opportunity to start on the
next project, the Ho IV. Work continued until the
school was moved to Königsberg in December.
Meanwhile the Ho V had been parked in the
open since the start
of the war, and was
deteriorating fast. We finally
managed to get
permission to have it
repaired in August of 1941.
The building of
the Ho IV continued in Königsberg,
and the aircraft was
completed in just eight months.
An Ho III b was being built in
be converted to a
"d" model, with the installation
of a Walter Micron
engine.
The Air Force
wanted a test aircraft for the
new Schmitt-Argus
pulse jet engine, and
inquired about using the Ho V.
As the thrust of
the engine was in excess
of what the aircraft
could handle, a new,
heavier aircraft with
similar features was
proposed.
This would be the Ho VII, a fully acrobatic
two seater, with provisions for the jet engine
between its two pusher
propellers.
The Ho VII would also be an excellent training
aircraft. One prototype
was ordered from the
Peschke factory in Minden.
The Ho VII with Air Force designation 8-254,
was soon completed,
but did not receive the
pulse jet as planned,
and remained a training
aircraft. The Peschke plant needed additional
work, and soon six Ho III's were in production.
Using parts from
surplus Ho III b's, one model
"e" with VW engine, three "f" s with prone
pilot
accommodation and two
"g" two seaters were
completed.
Our next project
was a large aircraft with 120 ft.
span and six engines.
This Ho VIII would have
two fuselage pod
configurations one for cargo,
the other build as a
flying wind tunnel.
Unfortunately, no
contract was received to build it.
In March 1943, the
performance curves and
installation drawings for the
Junkers 004 jet engine
came into our hands.
Walter had seen the Me 262,
and obtained data
that had previously been kept
secret.
Work on the Ho VII was put aside, as we eagerly
sought to submit a
proposal for the 1000-1000-1000
jet that Reichsmarshal Goering had requested.
Our proposal was
accepted, and the Reichsmarshal
ordered the first Ho IX (8-229) to be flown within six
months.
The Ho IX contract generated a flurry of activity
that none of our
workshops could handle alone.
Thus, the work was
spread out, and efficiency
suffered. For flight
tests, a Ho III was modified
with 60 sweep back to
become the Ho XIII a,
and two high aspect
ratio Ho Vl's were built in
Aegidienberg for "middle-effect" testing.
Despite the
hardships, the Ho IX V-1 flew in
March 1 as a
glider, precise on schedule.
The jet powered
V-2 was scheduled to fly
three months later.
After the first
successful flight of the Ho IX V-2,
the Ho VIII project was approved, and the aircraft
was half finished when
the war ended.
The production
contract for the Ho IX was awarded
to the Gothaer Waggonfabrik.
Our final
contract; to develop a six jet long range
bomber, was received on
March 12, 1945.
The
Working conditions
in
more difficult than in
Spruce and thin
birch plywood were not available;
inferior local materials
had to be used.
Glue was the
largest problem. The General in
charge of the Institute
had ordered that the
glue be prepared in
the chemistry department.
By the time it
reached us, it had started to harden,
and was mostly
spoiled. Several aircraft were lost
due to glue-failures.
The destiny of a new prototype
was also peculiar:
No sooner had it flown before
the Public Relations
Department had it sent off to
some remote village,
where it would be on display in a
park until grass
started growing from the wings.
Afterwards it was ready for
the salvage yard.
Nine sailplanes were produced
under these
rather difficult circumstances.
Reimar Horten
passed away in 1994.
He is survived by his widow.
Walter Horten was living in Baden-Baden.
He passed away on December 9,
1998.
More notes from Douglas
Bullard
http://www.nurflugel.com/nurflugelhomepage/index.html
This page is:
https://larspinky.angelfire.com/drone.html
Mentioned on Blogs at Special4u
