5 Of The Fastest Military Drones, Ranked By Top Speed

When it comes to military drones, speed isn't always an important factor in mission success. Many UAVs are used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, which require loitering in the same area for extended periods of time as they fly back and forth over the target zone. Of course, there are all kinds of military drones, not all of which fly, and while speed isn't necessarily important in all aspects of their use, it's still a fundamental element of their operation.

Militaries all over the world operate drones of various types, some of which move faster than others. It typically depends on their intended mission. Most people are aware of drones like the MQ-1 Predator or its larger cousin, the MQ-9 Reaper, and while they aren't slow vehicles, they're hardly the fastest drones in operation. Of the many nations that manufacture and operate drones, the United States boasts the fastest, though not in great numbers.

Many of the U.S.' fastest drones are still in development, while others have been placed in service on a limited basis. Each of the military drones detailed here is incredibly fast, and they make up the fastest in service, the fastest used for multi-mission support, the fastest targeting drone, the fastest in development, and the fastest that should be zipping across the skies in the near future. While there are many that come close, these military drones are easily the fastest in the world.

Believe it or not, this is an official photograph of the U.S. Air Force's RQ-170 Sentinel, which first entered service in 2007. The UAV, which has been nicknamed "Wraith," is operated by both the Air Force and the CIA, and there's not much the public knows about it. Only around 20 to 30 have been placed into active service, and it saw action in Afghanistan soon after its introduction, earning the nickname "The Beast of Kandahar." The RQ-170 made headlines when Iran captured one in 2011, showing off its design, which the Iranians copied.

The RQ-170 was designed primarily for stealth ISR missions to support joint operations, likely anywhere in the world. The aircraft features a flying wing and tailless design, measuring 14 feet, 9 inches in length, with a wingspan of 65 feet, 7 inches. It's unclear precisely what powers the RQ-170, but a training manual issued by the U.S. Army describes its engine as an "Electric turbofan mounted inside the body."

Little detail has been released about its technical specifications or capabilities, but some information is available. It's been reported by Airforce Technology that the RQ-170 has a long endurance, can fly to a ceiling of 50,000 feet, and may be powered by a single General Electric TF34 turbofan engine capable of producing 9,275 lbs. of thrust. According to Robots.net, the RQ-170 has a top speed of Mach 0.65 (500 mph), but this may be speculation based on limited available data because The Aviationist estimates its top speed to be Mach 0.75 (575.4 mph).

Northrop Grumman developed the X-47B, an unmanned combat aerial vehicle meant for carrier-based operations. The X-47B is a tailless jet featuring a blended wing-body capable of flying limited, semi-autonomous operations. Additionally, it can be autonomously aerially refueled, ensuring it has a far greater endurance than many UCAVs operated by the U.S. military. The aircraft is designed to be a strike fighter, but it's unlikely to move forward in the design process as the X-47B is a demonstration and testing aircraft.

That said, two were built and used, demonstrating the technology with a great deal of success in aerial refueling. The X-47B measures 38 feet, 2 inches long, with a wingspan of 62.1 feet while extended. Should it be pushed through into production, the X-47B could become the first drone capable of taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier entirely without human intervention. It can carry up to 4,500 lbs. of bombs in its internal bay, and while it's stealthy, it's also designed for speed.

The X47B is powered by one Pratt & Whitney F100-2200U turbofan engine, which pushes the aircraft at speeds of Mach 0.9+ (960+ mph). It boasts a maximum unrefueled range of 2,416.6 miles with an endurance of six hours to an altitude of 40,000 feet. The program proved the viability of semi-autonomous carrier-based drone operation, so whatever Northrop Grumman develops from the X-47B will likely integrate the lessons learned throughout its development.

Typically, when people think of drones, they consider aircraft that were never designed to accommodate people. While that makes up the vast majority of UAVs operated by the world's militaries, the U.S. has an interesting drone in the QF-16. If the image looks familiar, that's because the QF-16 is an unmanned variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which was designed and used specifically for targeting. The Air Force's QF-16s were converted from older Block models to create something for pilots to shoot out of the sky.

While it's all good to run pilots through simulators, by using QF-16s for targeting, pilots actually fire live air-to-air missiles at an aircraft and watch it explode. These so-called "Zombie Vipers" were built solely to be destroyed, which isn't something many nations can afford to do, as these F-16s were taken out of Arizona's airplane boneyard and given massive overhauls to make them flightworthy again. Regardless, they exist and serve their purpose well in training Air Force pilots in real-world combat experience.

The engineers installed new Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 and 220 engines into Block 15 and 25s, while they installed the General Electric F110-GE-100 engine in Block 30 F-16s. These aircraft are remotely operated and no longer require a pilot, and they can be flown at exceptional speeds, providing the training necessary to advance pilots' understanding of combat maneuvers. Each QF-16 can fly at Mach 2 (1,535 mph), which is incredibly fast, thus proving their worth in teaching dogfighting to American pilots.

The ridiculously fast SR-71 Blackbird is probably one of the world's best-known spy planes, but it's not the only thing Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has developed. Another aircraft currently under production is the fabled SR-72 Darkstar, though, like its predecessor, not a lot of information has been revealed about its capabilities or specifications. The hypersonic plane has been in development since around 2007, but unlike the SR-71, the SR-72 will be unmanned, so the so-called "Son of the Blackbird" differs significantly in its operation.

While no official photographs exist showcasing its design, it's widely believed that the SR-72 will feature Turbine-Based Combined-Cycle Hypersonic Engines, which utilize turbofan engines alongside a supersonic combustion ramjet. These should work in tandem to push the SR-72 to its intended speed of Mach 6 (4,603.6 mph), making it an exceptionally fast aircraft.

Granted, the SR-72 is largely a paper concept at the moment, as it's unclear how far Lockheed Martin has gotten in the design process. These kinds of aircraft are typically classified at the highest levels, so without a security clearance and the need to know, it's anyone's guess as to when they might start zipping across the sky at breakneck speed — if they haven't already. That said, the SR-72 may never make it into the inventory, as the RQ-180 may fill the need, though the speed of that highly classified UAV is also unknown, and it likely favors stealth over speed.

Each of the aforementioned drones is either in active service or development, but there's one on the horizon that's little more than barely tested theory at this point. The Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is more than a snappy name; it's an experimental hypersonic glide vehicle being designed by DARPA to reach speeds of Mach 20. That's not merely fast; it's almost too fast to comprehend because it would allow the drone to reach any target on the planet in under an hour.

Lockheed Martin built and tested the HTV-2 as a concept to determine the viability of its speed, and in two test flights, it reached the high-hypersonic speed of Mach 20+. The glider was first carried to altitude via a Minotaur IV booster and released. Both tests suffered from various failures, resulting in a loss of control. In the second test, the aircraft's skin heated to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit due to the immense friction created by zipping through the atmosphere — that's hot enough to melt steel.

Both flights provided the necessary data regarding flight performance, aerodynamics, material stress, and more. Because of this, the program ended with the second flight, and no more are expected. That doesn't mean a Mach 20 drone isn't on the horizon. The HTV-2 was meant to function as a testbed and may be used to develop a hypersonic unmanned bomber or other complex aircraft sometime in the near future. At the very least, the U.S. flew a drone at Mach 20+, not once, but twice.