RQ-170 made frequent flights over bin Laden compound

In the months preceding the May 2 raid, the CIA reportedly flew dozens of missions with high-altitude unmanned stealth aircraft over the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed to obtain high-resolution video that satellites could not provide, reports the Washington Post.

The agency used the RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle “because they needed to see more about what was going on,” a former official familiar with the details of the operation told the news outlet.

The operational use of the RQ-170, which has the characteristic bat-winged shape of larger manned stealth aircraft, has never been described by official sources.