ARMY DRONE STAYS ALOFT FOR 64 DAYS
Airbus' Zephyr
Photo by: Airbus
Wed, 08/24/2022 - 06:50
After a record-breaking 64 days and almost 35,000 miles aloft, the Army’s latest test of a solar-powered, ultra-long endurance drone has come to an end.
The unmanned aerial system, Airbus’ Zephyr 8, launched June 15 from Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, and crashed Aug. 18, recording a remarkable flight of more than two months.
In a statement Aug. 23, the Army Futures Command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team, which conducted the test, would only say that the aircraft’s “flight campaign ended” when the Zephyr 8 “encountered events that led to its unexpected termination.”
No additional information was released, but the Army said there were no injuries or risk to personnel or other aircraft because of the incident.
https://www.ausa.org/news/army-drone-stays-aloft-64-days