In a recent video we published on YouTube, we showed you a clip of our interview with retired Air Force Major General Bob “Lorenzo” Behler – and as gripping as his stories about flying the SR-71 truly are, many eagle-eyed viewers couldn’t help but be distracted by the unusual looking model aircraft on the shelf behind him.

To me, the avalanche of comments we received asking about that model aircraft is just further proof that I’ve been lucky enough to find my tribe in the AirPower audience because you’d better believe I had the very same question during the interview. At the close of our conversation, I directly asked the general about that model, and just as you might expect – he was rather tight-lipped about the exotic-looking aircraft.

“Before I let you go, I have one question that I need to ask you in particular, general,” I said as we were wrapping up. “You’ve got a U-2 and an SR-71 behind you… And a third aircraft that I can’t tell what it is. Can you tell me what that third aircraft model is?”

“No, I can’t talk about that one,” General Behler said firmly. Out of respect for the general, I wasn’t going to push it any further, but he was kind enough to offer a small bit of elaboration.

“This one here?” The general asked as he spun in his chair to pick up the model. But instead of moving it into the view of the camera, he set off to the side where we could no longer see it.

“It’s an unmanned vehicle. It was built in my last job,” the general explained — referring to his term as the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), which is a presidentially-appointed position. This role made General Behler the principal official and adviser to the Secretary of Defense on all DoD matters related to operational (OT&E) and live fire test and evaluation (LFT&E) of DoD systems.

The general said that the aircraft was designed, “to be a 5th generation aerial target.” He added, “We have to have a low-observable target so we could practice and that’s what it is.”

The general’s discretion makes a great deal of sense, as the 5th generation aerial target program (5GAT), while publicly disclosed, has not been particularly transparent.

The effort began in 2006, but was shelved in 2020 after a crash during the drone’s maiden flight, only to be revived midway through 2023 with a new $77 million........

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