U.S. Most Secretive Stealth Spy Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Greece While Supporting Attacks on Iran - Reports

The U.S. long-range, high-altitude (HALE) unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, unofficially known as the RQ-180, is reported to have made an emergency landing at Larissa National Airport in Greece during operations against Iran. “Those who were in the area near the 110th Fighter Wing [110th Combat Wing] in Larissa at the end of last week were left speechless when they saw an impressive plane in the sky, completely different in shape and appearance from everything we see daily in politics and the military air force,” according to a local source. Little is known regarding the new aircraft, which was secretly funded through the Air Force’s classified budget. It is speculated to  be capable of offensive electronic warfare, and reportedly has a very long range comparable to those of lighter strategic bombers. 

Since launching a full scale assault on Iran on February 28, the U.S. Armed Forces have faced multiple significant setbacks, including considerable losses and serious depletion of its munitions. Part of its response has been to redeploy high value military equipment from across much of the world to take part in hostilities, with the RQ-180’s reconnaissance capabilities potentially being invaluable to supporting the U.S. and Israeli reconnaissance strike complex. This is particularly vital due to Iran’s widespread deployment of highly mobile assets, such as wheeled solid fuelled ballistic missile launchers, which leave only small windows for targeting and require tracking across the country’s vast territory. 

It remains uncertain whether the RQ-180 took damage in Iranian airspace, or whether it may have suffered a technical error. The U.S. has lost multiple aircraft inside Iranian airspace, including at least 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones which fulfil reconnaissance and attack roles, with multiple unconfirmed reports having claimed in war’s opening hours that a B-2 bomber was also shot dow during a penetration strike. The U.S. and Israel have generally refrained from flying higher value aircraft for deep penetration strikes into Iran, with most aircraft instead launching cruise and ballistic missiles from across longer distances. This reflects difficulties that the U.S. and its strategic partners have had in neutralising Iran’s multi-layered air defence network.

The RQ-180 was designed and tested in Area 51, and began operations from Beale Air Force Base in 2019, before reportedly making surveillance flights over the Arctic to test its capabilities. The aircraft is assessed to have been a successor to the RQ-170, which was manufactured in limited numbers in the 2000s for surveillance missions over well defended enemy airspace. The RQ-170 gained considerable publicity after it was commandeered over Iran using advanced electronic warfare systems, with its technologies subsequently used to develop a new series of Iranian drones. The newer aircraft is reported to improve on the capabilities of its predecessor with a longer range and superior stealth capabilities.