DARPA UAV Can Fly For 10 Days WIth 30 Pound Payload

The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has tested a military UAV with a claimed endurance of 10 days flying feet 15000 altitude with a 30 pound (13.6 Kilogram) payload capacity.

If deployed, the aircraft will revolutionize close-battlefield support eliminating the need for frequent refueling, launch and retrieval.

“The flight was terminated several days ahead of schedule because of incoming weather. But the craft—built by Vanilla Aircraft of Falls Church, Virginia—landed safely with more than half its fuel still onboard, suggesting it is capable of setting additional records for powered flight in its weight and power class and could ultimately offer important new capabilities to ground forces and others”, a DARPA statement said today.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) bring extra communications or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to the field.

Current designs offer relatively limited range and flight endurance; additionally, their need for frequent refuelling, specialized launch and recovery equipment, and regular maintenance often limit them to flying from fixed bases close to the front lines. Vanilla’s propeller-driven VA001 is designed to carry a 30-pound payload at 15,000 feet for up to 10 days without refuelling, the statement added.

The VA001 started its historic flight on the morning of November 30, 2016 at New Mexico State University’s Unmanned Air Systems Flight Test Center near Las Cruces International Airport. For nearly 56 hours, the plane flew at an altitude between 6,500 feet and 7,500 feet above sea level, averaging 57 knots before landing on the afternoon of December 2.