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Why is this vehicle still referenced as X-37? The mission appears to be reconnaissance and no longer aerospace vehicle research.
by vaadu 13y ago
Why is this vehicle still referenced as X-37? The mission appears to be reconnaissance and no longer aerospace vehicle research.
- ChuckMcM 13y agoGood question, perhaps giving it an actual name would reveal too much. General consensus seems to think its a 'deploy on demand' reconnaissance transport (basically a bunch of signal or optical gear in the payload that it can point at various places and then return). That would make it something like an MQ-37 or RQ-37.
- 7952 13y agoThe return ability also lets you collect data and store it on board for recovery later. Any sensor that can see through clouds could generate a colossal amount of data and there is never enough bandwidth!
- nether 13y agoPrefixes are mostly political in purpose and don't strictly describe the aircraft mission. The F-22 was the F/A-22 for a while, the F-117 was a bomber, the X-35 was a prototype for the F-35 and thus should have been the YF-35, and the SR-71 was designated RS-71 until a flubbed presidential announcement. Everyone knows what these aircraft really do though.