Now it lies within a 23 by 25 mile perimeter of restricted airspace located
within the larger 500 square mile nevada training and test range. Other nearby bases include nellis
air force base and tenopa test range the latter which also has hosted numerous black project
programs.
while the F-117 has been officially retired from the air force service photos and
video footage revealed that at least one or two of the venerable stealth jets continue to fly over
area 51 as of 2019 possibly used to test sensors and air-to-air tactics against stealth aircraft.
Soviet warbirds, air force and navy pilots suffered unexpected difficulties in the early years of the
air war over vietnam when confronted by agile soviet built Mig-17 and Mig-21 jets. Conveniently israel acquired a Mig-21 from a defecting iraqi pilot in 1966, then in 1968 two syrian Mig-17f pilots got lost and mistakenly landed in israel. All three jets were shipped over to groom lake where air force pilots extensively tested the
planes in a series of head-to-head dogfights with a wide variety of u.s jets.
They came to
an uncomfortable conclusion. they were evenly matched in a head-to-head fight even with
more sophisticated F4 phantom jets and the better trained pilot was likely to win a conclusion which
led to the formation of the navy's top gun program.
Missing in action, the mythical aurora spy plane
During the 1990s several respected aviation writers wrote of their conviction that the
air force had sequestered in groom lake a top-secret blackbird successor dubbed the
aurora that could attain hypersonic speeds, i.e exceeding five times the speed of sound. Supposedly the triangle-shaped aurora was powered by either a scramjet or a pumpkin seed shockwave
pulse engine which used the flat airframe to squeeze the aircraft forward.
However no concrete
evidence ever emerged to confirm such a plane's existence. Nor the exotic propulsion systems
it would have required. thus the veracity of the admittedly cool legend seems dubious in hindsight.
Boeing bird of prey
Now not the klingon starships from star trek
but a prototype stealth jet that vaguely resembled one with its upward swept wings. Like its science fiction counterpart the boeing bird of prey may also have possessed an active
camouflage cloaking device designed to minimize its shadow and blended visual signature with the
surrounding sky a technology first deployed on ships and aircraft during World War II.
The
demonstrator made 39 test flights between 1996 to 1999 before being unveiled to the public in 2002
and is now on display at the u.s air force museum in Dayton.
Lockheed P-175 polecat stealth drone
The Polecat was a 4.5 ton flying wing high altitude stealth drone made of 200 composite
parts glued together. Resembling a miniature b2 stealth bomber with wings 27 meters wide the P-175
was conceived of as a high altitude surveillance and attack platform with a thousand pound payload. The stealth UAV began testing in 2006 but that december a failure in its remote control system
reportedly caused it to self-destruct by crashing into the ground.
The Northrop Grumman RQ-180, the Lockheed SR-72
Area 51's perimeter remains heavily guarded by security sensors and camouflaged
civilian security contractors with guns. gray unmarked 737 airliners and blackhawk helicopters
can be observed delivering cargos to the airfield.
However it's possible to examine satellite images
and snap photos of the base from 26 miles away on takabu peak. These reveal that in 2017, a huge new
hangar was sighted in area 51 measuring 200 by 250 feet in size slightly more square footage than a
football field which surely houses something of interest.
A long-range penetrating stealth drone
could have significant strategic applications as a silver bullet to monitor and possibly even attack
nuclear assets during crisis which may explain the secrecy surrounding the RQ-180. Area 51 might also be an attractive place to host new hypersonic glide vehicles which the pentagon
is currently pouring a ton of research money into.
Hypersonic weapons would combine the extreme speed
of ballistic missiles with the flatter harder to detect trajectory of a cruise missile style weapon.
