Subject:  C.3.  What's a TR-3?

A report in _Aviation Week and Space Technology_ in mid 1991 described a
"triangular flying wing" reconnaissance aircraft, developed by Northrop (now
Northrop Grumman) from 1982, designated TR-3A and nicknamed "Black Manta".
According to the report, the aircraft had a length of about 13 metres,
wingspan of about 19 metres, and a range of 5600 kilometres; it had been
deployed for trials to Alaska, Okinawa, Panama, and the UK, and a few had been
employed in Desert Storm in the reconnaissance role.  The aircraft was
apparently developed from a Northrop technology demonstrator known as THAP
(Tactical High Altitude Penetrator), which first flew in 1981 and was similar
in design, but slightly smaller.  After this report, however, nothing more was
heard of the TR-3 for two years.

In 1993, Steve Douglass, an amateur "stealth watcher" who keeps an eye on the
USAF's "black" programmes for a hobby, took a videotape of an aircraft landing
at White Sands Missile Range.  Enhancement of the image revealed a formerly
unknown aircraft, almost certainly the TR-3.  Apart from having a curved
trailing edge, it resembled a scaled-down B-2 (or a Horten IX; see section
E.1).  It appears to be a single-seat, twin-engine, approximately triangular
flying wing, which fits the description given in the earlier report.  You can
find more details, including an artist's impression based on the video images,
in the February 1994 issue of _Wired_.

Of the various "black" aircraft supposed to be flown by the USAF (see also
section C.2), more solid evidence exists for the TR-3 than any other, and its
existence seems virtually certain.  Although it's difficult to judge the exact
size of the aircraft from Douglass's image, the dimensions quoted in the
original report are plausible.

Please E-Mail me at johansson@ctrl-c.liu.se