Editing Lockheed Martin RQ-3 DarkStar

{{Short description|Unmanned aerial vehicle}}
{{For|the fictional hypersonic aircraft|Top Gun: Maverick#Darkstar}}
{{Infobox aircraft
 | name = RQ-3A DarkStar
 | logo = <!-- ONLY for an individual logo of the aircraft model, (NOT the main manufacturer logo) -->
 | image = File:DarkStar Tier III.jpg
 | image_caption = <!-- image caption; if it isn't descriptive it should be left blank -->
 | aircraft_type = High-altitude endurance [[unmanned aerial vehicle]] (UAV)
 | manufacturer = [[Lockheed Martin]]/[[Boeing]]
 | designer = <!-- only appropriate for single designers, not project leaders -->
 | first_flight = March 29, 1996
 | introduction = <!-- date the aircraft entered or will enter military or revenue service -->
 | retired = <!-- date the aircraft left military or revenue service. If vague or multiples, it probably should be skipped -->
 | status = <!-- in most cases, this field is redundant; use it sparingly -->
 | primary_user = <!-- please list only one user – for military aircraft, the user is a nation or a service arm. 
   Do NOT add those tiny flags as they limit horizontal space. -->
 | more_users = <!-- limited to three "more users" total; please separate with <br /> -->
 | produced = <!-- years in production, e.g. 1970-1999, if still in active use but no longer built -->
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 | program cost = <!-- total program cost. -->
 | unit cost = <!-- incremental or flyaway cost for military aircraft or retail price for commercial aircraft. -->
 | developed_from = <!-- the aircraft which formed the basis for the topic type -->
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}}

The '''RQ-3 DarkStar''' (known as '''Tier III-''' or "Tier three minus" during development) is an [[unmanned aerial vehicle]] (UAV). Its first flight was on March 29, 1996.  The Department of Defense terminated DarkStar in January 1999, after determining the UAV was not aerodynamically stable and was not meeting cost and performance objectives.<ref>[http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/ns99033.pdf UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES: DOD's Demonstration Approach Has Improved Project Outcomes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520131334/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/ns99033.pdf |date=2017-05-20 }} United States General Accounting Office Report to the Secretary of Defense, August 1999</ref>

== Design and development ==
The RQ-3 DarkStar was designed as a "[[High-Altitude Long Endurance|high-altitude endurance]] UAV", and incorporated [[stealth aircraft]] technology<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/darkstar.htm|title = DarkStar Tier III Minus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/program/collect/darkstar.htm|title=DarkStar Tier III Minus}}</ref> to make it difficult to detect, which allowed it to operate within heavily defended airspace, unlike the [[Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk]], which is unable to operate except under conditions of [[air supremacy]]. The DarkStar was fully autonomous: it could take off, fly to its target, operate its sensors, transmit information, return and land without human intervention. Human operators, however, could change the DarkStar's flight plan and sensor orientation through radio or satellite relay. The RQ-3 carried either an optical sensor or radar, and could send digital information to a satellite while still in flight. It used a single [[airbreathing jet engine]] of unknown type for propulsion. One source claims it used a [[Williams FJ44|Williams-Rolls-Royce FJ44-1A]] turbofan engine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cowboylogic.us/stalking-iran-and-bin-ladin-with-a-drone/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409222854/http://cowboylogic.us/stalking-iran-and-bin-ladin-with-a-drone/ |archive-date=2016-04-09 }}</ref>

The first prototype made its first flight on March 29, 1996, but its second flight, on April 22, 1996, ended in a crash shortly after takeoff. A modified, more stable design (the RQ-3A) first flew on June 29, 1998, and made a total of five flights before the program was canceled just prior to the sixth and final flight planned for the airworthiness test phase. Two additional RQ-3As were built, but never made any flights before program cancellation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lockheed Martin RQ-3A Dark Star {{!}} The Museum of Flight |url=https://www.museumofflight.org/exhibits-and-events/aircraft/lockheed-martin-rq-3a-dark-star |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Museum of Flight |language=en}}</ref>

The "R" is the Department of Defense designation for reconnaissance; "Q" means unmanned aircraft system. The "3" refers to it being the third of a series of purpose-built unmanned reconnaissance aircraft systems.

Although the RQ-3 was terminated on January 28, 1999, a July 2003 ''Aviation Week and Space Technology'' article reported in April 2003 that a derivative of the RQ-3 had been used in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aviationweek.com/awin/classified-lockheed-martin-unmanned-reconnaissance-aircraft-was-used-iraq|title=A Classified Lockheed Martin Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft Was Used in Iraq &#124; Aviation Week Network}}</ref> There has been no independent confirmation.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

==Survivors==
[[File:RQ-3A Darkstar.jpg|thumb|RQ-3A DarkStar on display at the [[Museum of Flight]] in [[Seattle, Washington]]]]

*The second RQ-3A (A/V #2) is at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base|Wright-Patterson AFB]] in [[Dayton, Ohio]]. Although part of the Museum's Research & Development Gallery, it is displayed hanging over the [[C-130E]] in Building 4's Global Reach Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/R-and-D-Gallery/|title=Research and Development Gallery}}</ref>
*The third RQ-3A (A/V #3) is on display in the Great Gallery of the [[Museum of Flight]] in Seattle, Washington.
*The fourth RQ-3A (which never flew before the program ended) is held by the Smithsonian [[National Air and Space Museum]] in Washington, D.C., but is not on display.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lockheed-martinboeing-rq-3a-darkstar |title=Lockheed Martin/Boeing RQ-3A DarkStar &#124; National Air and Space Museum |access-date=2020-02-19 |archive-date=2019-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721112800/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lockheed-martinboeing-rq-3a-darkstar |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Specifications ==
[[File:Dark Star USAF.jpg|thumb|Overhead view]] 
[[File:Darkstar-display WL.jpg|thumb|DarkStar at the [[Museum of Flight]] ]]

{{Aircraft specs
|ref=<!-- reference -->
|prime units?=imp
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|crew=
|capacity=
|length m=4.6
|length ft=15
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=21.3
|span ft=69
|span in=
|span note=
|height m=1.1
|height ft=3
|height in=6
|height note=
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=1,980
|empty weight lb=4,360
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=3,860
|gross weight lb=8,500
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
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|more general=
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Williams FJ44|Williams-Rolls-Royce FJ44-1A]]
|eng1 type= turbofan
|eng1 kn=8.5
|eng1 lbf=1,900
|eng1 note=
|power original=
|thrust original=

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|max speed kmh=
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|cruise speed kmh=464
|cruise speed mph=288
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|range km=925
|range miles=575
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|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=13,500
|ceiling ft=45,000
|ceiling note=
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|climb rate ftmin=
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|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
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|avionics=
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Aviation}}
{{aircontent
| related=
<!-- aircraft similar in appearance or function to this design: -->
| similar aircraft=
* [[General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper]] (also known as the ''Predator B'')
* [[Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel]]
<!-- * RQ-3 DarkStar -->
* [[BAE Systems Corax]]
* [[Dassault nEUROn]]
* [[EADS Barracuda]]
| lists=
* [[List of unmanned aerial vehicles]]
* [[List of military aircraft of the United States]]
| see also=
* [[Unmanned combat aerial vehicle]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|RQ-3 Dark Star|RQ-3 Dark Star}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060211175359/http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/Tier3-/index.html DarkStar Tier III- from NASA Dryden Flight Center]
* [http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/darkstar.htm DarkStar Tier III Minus]

{{US unmanned aircraft}}
{{Lockheed Martin aircraft}}

[[Category:Lockheed Martin aircraft|Q-003]]
[[Category:1990s United States military reconnaissance aircraft]]
[[Category:Unmanned military aircraft of the United States]]
[[Category:Single-engined jet aircraft]]
[[Category:Tailless aircraft]]
[[Category:Unmanned stealth aircraft]]
[[Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1996]]
[[Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear]]