The Zephyr is a series of high-altitude platform station aircraft produced by Airbus. They were designed originally by QinetiQ, a commercial offshoot of the UK Ministry of Defence. In July 2010, the Zephyr 7 flew for 14 days. In March 2013, the project was sold to Airbus Defence and Space. In the summer of 2022, the Zephyr 8/S flew for 64 days.
The unmanned aerial vehicles are powered by solar cells, recharging batteries in daylight to stay aloft at night. The latest Zephyr 8/S weighs 60 kg (130 lb), has a wingspan of 25 m (82 ft), can reach 23,200 m (76,100 ft) and can lift a 5 kg (11 lb) payload for months. They can be used for mobile phone coverage, environmental monitoring, military reconnaissance or as a communications relay.
^Craig Hoyle (11 July 2006). "Energetic Qinetiq". flightglobal.
^Cite error: The named reference Flight6jan2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
The Zephyr is a series of high-altitude platform station aircraft produced by Airbus. They were designed originally by QinetiQ, a commercial offshoot of...
Look up Zephyr, Zéphyr, zephyr, zephyrs, or zéphyr in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind,...
vehicles in which the British aerospace industry has a major role include AirbusZephyr, BAE Taranis, HAV 304 Airlander 10 and Watchkeeper WK450. Major engine...
February 2016). "British MoD Acquires Solar-Powered Zephyr UAV". Defense News. "Airbus, UK MoD cites Zephyr trials success on path to 'operationalising pseudo...
"First flight of Astrium's Zephyr solar HAPS". Airbus. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2014. "Zephyr - The first stratospheric...
It has, however, remained on station at 65,000 feet for 24 hours. Airbus' Zephyr in 2023 has attained 70,000 feet and flown for 64 days; 200 days aimed...
for civilian and military drones like Maraal UAVs, Facebook Aquila, AirbusZephyr and AVIC Morning Star of China. As a civilian platform, it can also...
provided during several months of endurance. It would compete with the AirbusZephyr ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence and visited by the U.S. Army Futures...
(PDF) on 2015-07-22. "Amprius' silicon nanowire Li-ion batteries power AirbusZephyr S HAPS solar aircraft". Green Car Congress. Retrieved 2022-12-31. "Test...
in June 1983) NASA Centurion (First flight 10 November 1998) QinetiQ/AirbusZephyr (First flight in 2008) Facebook Aquila (First flight 28 June 2016)...
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capabilities.: 40, 46 The Ministry of Defence would purchase at least 2 AirbusZephyr high-altitude UAVs. The number of nuclear warheads will be reduced to...
The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS565 Panther is the military version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin medium-weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter...
Epsilon Aérospatiale Super Frelon Avro Anson Agusta-Bell 47 Airbus A310 Airbus A319 Airbus A340 Beechcraft T-34 Mentor Bell 47 Bell P-39N/Q Bell P-63C...
Ju-Air sightseeing flight, killing all its 20 occupants. 8 August Airbus announces its Zephyr S remained aloft for 25 days 23h 57min for its maiden flight...
travel following the September 11 attacks, and rising maintenance costs: Airbus, the company that acquired Aérospatiale in 2000, had made a decision in...
on energy stored in the batteries mounted on the aircraft. The QinetiQ Zephyr is a lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). As of 23 July...
joint venture formed by French aerospace company Aérospatiale (now part of Airbus) and Italian aviation conglomerate Aeritalia (now Leonardo S.p.A.). The...
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