Posted on 07/16/2010 3:17:58 PM PDT by Nachum
An ultra-light unmanned aircraft powered by solar energy and designed for military surveillance and other uses has stayed in the air a record seven days, its manufacturer said Friday.
The British-based firm QinetiQ said its 22.5 meter (74-foot) long Zephyr, weighing just 50 kilos (110 pounds), continued to fly over a US military testing ground in Arizona, and could stay aloft for another week.
The flight doubled the unofficial world record for the longest duration unmanned flight of 82 hours by the same aircraft in 2008. Zephyr's records will not become official until the aircraft is back on the ground.
"The current goal is to fly for a further week and prove Zephyr is the world's first truly eternal plane, capable of providing a low-cost, persistent surveillance capability over months rather than days," a company statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
That’s nice in the long-day summertime.
How’s it going to do in the winter?
Is it missile proof ?
I think in this case it's pretty safe to assume that eventually it will come down. :)
I think they plan 2 cross the Atlantic with one of these in a year or so, and then the plan is to make like Vasco de Gama and circumFly the globe.
really.
With the unit price these things will have, I can't imagine firing missiles at it is going to be cost effective.
74 feet long and 110 pounds? I think anything stronger than a zephyr will bring it to the ground.
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