Pentagons UAV Zephyr
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
This unmanned aerial vehicle is called Zephyr. The Pentagon hopes to have a squadron of them that can fly autonomously for years at a time.
The 66 pound Zephyr sports thin solar panels on its wings that charge lithium-sulfur batteries.
QinetiQ Group PLC based in the UK has partnered with DARPA on the research. Zephyr was tested and set a new unmanned record by flying for 3 days straight starting on 7/28/08. The flight was first guided by remote control, which took the aircraft to a height of 60,000 feet, then the aircraft flew autonomously and via satellite.
See the BBC video here.
Link via (Scientific American)
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