Army's Solar-Powered Drone Crashes After 64 Days in the Air

The Airbus Zephyr’s ‘unexpected termination’ comes after it surpassed all known uncrewed aircraft endurance records.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 05:23 PM ET

Verified

During the 64-day trial, the drone ascended to more than 60,000 feet before it flew a course over the southern U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, and South America before returning to Yuma airspace. [Courtesy: Airbus Defence]

Key Takeaways:

A U.S. Army flight test of its solar-powered Airbus Zephyr UAS ended abruptly with a crash after a record-setting 64-day flight.
The test aimed to evaluate the UAS's energy storage, battery longevity, and solar panel efficiency for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
Despite the crash, the Zephyr set new unmanned aircraft endurance records, accumulating 1,500 flight hours and more than doubling the previous record.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, but officials deem the data gathered invaluable for advancing high-altitude stratospheric capabilities.

See a mistake? Contact us.

A U.S. Army flight test of its solar-powered Airbus Defence Zephyr ultra-long endurance stratospheric unmanned air system (UAS) has abruptly ended with a crash, after more than two months in air.

Army Future Command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space (APNT/Space) Cross-Functional Team (CFT) launched the Zephyr 8 UAS on June 15 at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona to test the UAS’s energy storage capacity, battery longevity, station-keeping abilities, and solar panel efficiency as a means to boost intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.