Tier III
Early in the 1990s, the Pentagon attempted to develop a classified, high-flying, large-payload, stealthy, autonomous, modest-cost UAV to eventually substitute for the U-2 and SR-71. Known as Tier III, the program proved too great a challenge, and the requirement was broken down into two segments.
The top half of the high-altitude/endurance segment, called Tier III Minus, is the Lockheed Martin DarkStar. The vehicle, which looks like a flying saucer with its wings on backwards, will fly at over 45,000 feet and have either electro-optical or synthetic aperture radar sensors. With a range of over 500 nautical miles, DarkStar will be able to fly surreptitiously over hostile territory and remain there for more than eight hours. The DarkStar program was cancelled in 1989.
The second segment, known as Tier II Plus, is the Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk. Intended as the long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance "workhorse," the Global Hawk flies higher and faster than DarkStar, with a heavier payload, but is not as stealthy.
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