After setting ultra-endurance record, Army Zephyr drone keeps flying, whether it wants to or not
The high-flying unmanned aerial vehicle has been above Arizona for more than a month, living on batteries, solar power and a prayer.
By ANDREW EVERSDEN
on July 22, 2022 at 3:26 PM
Zephyr flies at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground— and beyond
WASHINGTON: For the last 37 days an unsettling, spindly figure has been loitering far, far above us Earthlings, but it’s not a UFO for the Pentagon’s new “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office” to investigate. It’s an Army unmanned aircraft in the midst of setting an endurance flight world record — and no one, including the Army, knows exactly when it’ll come down.
The Army announced Thursday that its ultra-long endurance, stratospheric, unmanned air system known as the Zephyr had been flying for 36 days and counting, demolishing its previous 26-day record. But it’s still up there in the sky over Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., where it will remain until the weather conditions are “ideal” to bring it down, an Army spokesperson told Breaking Defense today.
Since June 15, the Army’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space (APNT/Space) Cross-Functional Team, has been experimenting with the Airbus-made Zephyr’s high-altitude capabilities as the service searches for new high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/07/after-setting-ultra-endurance-record-army-zephyr-drone-keeps-flying-whether-it-wants-to-or-not/
