Flies For Three And A Half Days -- Unofficial World Record For
Longest Duration Unmanned Flight
The Zephyr, a solar powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has flown a 'world-beating' three and
a half day flight at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
The solar powered plane flew for 82 hours 37 minutes, exceeding the
current official world record for unmanned flight which stands at
30 hours 24 minutes set by Global Hawk in 2001 and Zephyr's
previous longest flight of 54 hours achieved last year.
The UK Ministry of Defence has funded the development of Zephyr
to date and has partnered with the US Department of Defense (DoD)
under their Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD)
Programme - which is designed to move urgently needed technologies
rapidly into the hands of US forces in the field. The US DoD funded
the demonstration flight under the Programme and this was the first
time the two governments have participated in a joint demonstration
of a HALE UAV.
JCTD projects are specially tailored to meet the needs of US
combatant commands. Zephyr is supported by USCENTCOM, the combatant
command with responsibility for Iraq and Afghanistan, along with
the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) for Advanced Systems and
Concepts (AS&C) and the US Army Space and Missile Defense
Command (SMDC).
Launched by hand, Zephyr is an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre
aircraft. By day it flies on solar power generated by amorphous
silicon solar arrays no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the
aircraft's wings. By night it is powered by rechargeable
lithium-sulphur batteries, supplied by SION Power Inc, which are
recharged during the day using solar power.
The flight trial at Yuma took place between 28 and 31 July in
the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert in mid summer with
temperatures up to 45°C (113°F). Zephyr was flown on
autopilot and via satellite communications to a maximum altitude of
more than 60,000ft. The trial included a military utility
assessment of a US Government communications payload.
Simon Bennett, Managing Director of QinetiQ's Applied
Technologies business said: "The Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona was
an appropriate setting for Zephyr's world beating flight as many
landmark aviation developments have taken place there in recent
years. In addition to setting a new unofficial record, the trial is
a step towards the delivery of Zephyr's capability for joint,
real-time, battlefield persistent surveillance and communications
to forces in the field at the earliest opportunity."
Andrew Baird, Director Defence Technology and Innovation Centre,
UK MoD said: "MOD is very pleased with the success of the recent
trial which demonstrated the potential capability of the
technologies in Zephyr. This success has also reinforced the close
working relationship between the UK and US on these key
technologies."
Potential applications for Zephyr include earth observation and
communications relay in support of a range of defence, security and
civil requirements.