4 ms·

QinetiQ's Zephyr UAV exceeds official world record for longest duration unmanned flight

4 points by dawie 19y ago

pg 19y ago
Interesting that they qualify it as "official." Presumably there are longer flights the military doesn't talk about.
- dawie 19y ago
  I am not even sure what the FIA is. Did a quick search, but didn't find anything.
  - jsjenkins168 19y ago
    FIA is the Formula 1 governing body. No relation to aircraft at all. No idea what the FAI is either though..
- jsjenkins168 19y ago
  It wouldnt be surprising if this was the case, given the future importance of UAVs in the military for recon and strike operations. Its probably a safe bet there is a lot of secret stuff going on behind the scenes..
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  You're discounting the way business is done in the military. An industry leader would do well to announce a relatively irrelevant feature like longest duration if it impressed decision makers in the government enough to give the business more money. The really important tech beyond lighter than air ships that I mentioned in another comment is in-air refueling of UAVs. With that, any autonomous ship can be in the air until maintenance is needed. That is more important than the longest run of an efficiency craft. I am still impressed that the bombing runs on Afghanistan 6 years ago took off from America.
ivankirigin 19y ago
There is a feature on everlasting flight here: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16722484.500-everlasting-flight.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16722484.500-everlasti... It makes a bit more sense to have forever-hovering lighter-than-air craft [LTA]. You can learn more about it here: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/cat/aircraft/blimps-lta-craft/ http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/cat/aircraft/blimps-lta-... The efficiency challenge of the Zephyr is the really interesting part. People have no idea how big of an impact these systems will have. In-orbit satellites just can't compete with the cost and ease of LTA deployment. The applications include constant surveillance, much better GPS,and better wireless communication infrastructure.
- jsjenkins168 19y ago
  This sounds really cool. I cant help but be reminded of the promises of the LEO satellite networks in the 90's though. Anyone heard of Teledesic? It was conceived by Bill Gates and a few others to bypass the traditional land based systems and deliver very high speed internet (even by todays standards) to users all over the world. But last I heard the project was canceled, citing that there was just not enough need to go beyond what people currently use.
  - ivankirigin 19y ago
    There is a world of difference between a rocket launch and a blimp launch.

4 points by dawie 19y ago

pg 19y ago

Interesting that they qualify it as "official." Presumably there are longer flights the military doesn't talk about.

dawie 19y ago
I am not even sure what the FIA is. Did a quick search, but didn't find anything.
- jsjenkins168 19y ago
  FIA is the Formula 1 governing body. No relation to aircraft at all. No idea what the FAI is either though..
jsjenkins168 19y ago
It wouldnt be surprising if this was the case, given the future importance of UAVs in the military for recon and strike operations. Its probably a safe bet there is a lot of secret stuff going on behind the scenes..
ivankirigin 19y ago
You're discounting the way business is done in the military. An industry leader would do well to announce a relatively irrelevant feature like longest duration if it impressed decision makers in the government enough to give the business more money. The really important tech beyond lighter than air ships that I mentioned in another comment is in-air refueling of UAVs. With that, any autonomous ship can be in the air until maintenance is needed. That is more important than the longest run of an efficiency craft. I am still impressed that the bombing runs on Afghanistan 6 years ago took off from America.

ivankirigin 19y ago

There is a feature on everlasting flight here: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16722484.500-everlasting-flight.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16722484.500-everlasti... It makes a bit more sense to have forever-hovering lighter-than-air craft [LTA]. You can learn more about it here: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/cat/aircraft/blimps-lta-craft/ http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/cat/aircraft/blimps-lta-... The efficiency challenge of the Zephyr is the really interesting part. People have no idea how big of an impact these systems will have. In-orbit satellites just can't compete with the cost and ease of LTA deployment. The applications include constant surveillance, much better GPS,and better wireless communication infrastructure.

jsjenkins168 19y ago
This sounds really cool. I cant help but be reminded of the promises of the LEO satellite networks in the 90's though. Anyone heard of Teledesic? It was conceived by Bill Gates and a few others to bypass the traditional land based systems and deliver very high speed internet (even by todays standards) to users all over the world. But last I heard the project was canceled, citing that there was just not enough need to go beyond what people currently use.
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  There is a world of difference between a rocket launch and a blimp launch.