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

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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:

The U.S. Army's solar-powered Airbus Zephyr UAS crashed after a record-breaking 64-day flight test for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
The drone flew for 1,500 hours, exceeding 60,000 feet, and amassed 30,000 nm, setting a new unmanned aircraft endurance record.
The flight was intended to test the UAS's energy storage, battery longevity, station-keeping, and solar panel efficiency.
Despite the crash, which is under investigation, the Army considers the test invaluable for gathering data on high-altitude UAS platforms.

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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.