Meet the Drone that can fly for 5 years without refueling ! No kidding they claim

The Drone is not listed or for sale as a dedicated military asset yet it certainly has military usefulness IMO as a stand off platform for relay and intercept missions; again just my opinion.
It will fly at a proposed 65,000 feet and have a wingspan of 164 feet, ( a Boeing 767 has less) weigh less than 500 pounds in it's proposed civilian mission weight; cruise speed is listed at 65MPH and due to it's solar power source they are claiming it will stay airborne for 5 years...
I am not a psychic but I predict that in the next 10 years there will be people killed from an uncontrollable drone crash... However having said that the technology that is coming down the pike is amazing... 5 years flight time without refueling... Hope it has a good motor!

www.nationaljournal.com...

reply to post by 727Sky


Cool. By no means new technology or a new idea, but I think the technology has "shrunk" enough to accommodate this feat.

With regards to applications, I think they will remain relatively benign. The whole designs seems to be predicated on keeping weight down, which would limit he addition of pieces of equipment.

But i guess the weight issue could be solved with having hundreds of them at 64,000 feet, each carrying their own unique payload and purpose.

reply to post by 727Sky


heres another prediction, the same will happen with real air craft with in the next year.

And with cars on the road with in an hour.

Whats the point of fear mongering a drone crash? Don't get me wrong, I don't like drones and we should shoot them down when we see them, but thats the last of your worries as far as drones go...

reply to post by 727Sky


I think I read about this in popular science a year ago. I don't see the platform ever being weaponized there are simply to many drawbacks especially with weight. Theoretically it can stay airborne for years but the reality is weather conditions would ground it from time to time.

reply to post by Grimpachi


At 65,000 ft you do not have to worry about weather except for the occasional super cell top that on a rare occasion might reach those heights. At 45,000 you clear all but the most determined thunder storms.

The weight issue is definitely problematic however cameras and data links or electronic receivers and repeaters are not that big a deal neither in size or weight. It's described mission is actually as a cell phone tower repeater..
My prediction of someone being hurt or killed by a crashing drone is not fear porn IMO but a reality of a future where 30,000 drones are possibly flying over Conus with operators doing OJT for the most part.

reply to post by 727Sky


Yeah at that altitude weather should be pretty stable. The weight issue I was speaking about was in correlation to weaponization (bombs and missiles are heavy). I don't see much risk in one falling and crashing (no fuel of any real concern) and mid air crash could happen but very few an far between.

MDDoxs
Cool. By no means new technology or a new idea, but I think the technology has "shrunk" enough to accommodate this feat.

With regards to applications, I think they will remain relatively benign. The whole designs seems to be predicated on keeping weight down, which would limit he addition of pieces of equipment.

But i guess the weight issue could be solved with having hundreds of them at 64,000 feet, each carrying their own unique payload and purpose.

What I want to know is, can we 3D print them yet??