The Zephyr: Unmanned Aircraft and the Many Possibilities!
Airbus Introduces us to the Zephyr, a Solar-Electric Stratospheric Unmanned Aerial System.
Airbus introduced the Zephyr, an unmanned aircraft, and I immediately had a million questions. This Solar-Electric Stratospheric UAS (unmanned aircraft system) mainly aims to provide new See, Sense, and Connect capabilities to military, commercial and institutional customers.
My first question is, what exactly are see, sense, and connect capabilities? First, see capabilities will enable it to provide a range of continuous surveillance through high-resolution imagery and video capture for intelligence gathering. In other words, the military is getting a drone with enhanced capabilities beyond what they currently have.
Think of this unit as a satellite for the stratosphere, but with several significant advantages. This aircraft can remain in a general area for long periods, whereas satellites have to orbit the earth fully. Maintenance on satellites is costly and requires space flights for repairs (if this is even worth it). The Zephyr can return to the sender for repairs, upgrades, and even changeouts of payloads.
