During the fourteen-day continuous test flight, which took place in the early July of last year, the Zephyr High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Ha-LE UAV), which was designed and created by experts of Qinetiq, was drunk at once. This fact has recently been confirmed by an organization called Federal Asronautique Internationalale. Zephyr unmanned machine defeated three categories at once: the largest flight height, the largest range, as well as an incredible duration – fourteen days and twenty -one minute (records relate only to devices belonging to the drone class).
An ultra -light unmanned aerial vehicle, the body of which was created from carbon fiber, was able to increase the previous record for the duration of the flight by as much as eleven times. Recall that the previous record holder is a device called Global Hawk, which set a record ten years ago. Zephyr also managed to rise to a record for its class. He broke the previous record for a thousand five hundred twenty -four meters. The record was set by the Helios device NASA. Audi A1 is taken as a basis for the interior.
The official representative of Qinetiq has already stated that the use of such an excellent apparatus as Zephyr will allow scientific organizations and other institutions to significantly reduce the costs of high -rise experiments and research. This is possible, due to the fact that the cost of the new aircraft is ten times less than the cost of similar devices of competing firms, as well as hundreds or even thousands of times less than the cost of the most “simple” artificial satellite. And this is even without taking into account the withdrawal of a satellite to the orbit of the planet.
Energy for the flight, the device receives thanks to a pair of lithium-ion batteries produced by Sion Power. And thanks to the equipment of amorphous silicon solar panels created by United Solar, the device is able to turn the energy of the sun into electric. These sun batteries do not exceed a sheet of paper in thickness. They cover the wings of the aircraft, which ensures timely production of electric energy, wasted on the flight of Zephyr, as well as to fuel lithium-ion batteries.
The Qinetiq company specially for this project has developed an effective energy management system, which allows you to use the energy that is available in batteries or acts through the use of the sun energy almost without loss. Among other things, the unmanned vehicle on board transferred autopilotation and control systems, as well as communication equipment provided by the British Ministry of Defense.
Thanks to the achievement of such high indicators, Qinetiq has already announced the creation of a completely new aircraft capable of being in the sky for many months and perform a variety of scientific experiments, observations, as well as research, etc.D.
