Qinetiq Zephyr

Airbus Zephyr
Role	High altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft
National origin	United Kingdom
Design group	Qinetiq

The Airbus Zephyr is a series of lightweight solar-powered UAV originally designed and built by the United Kingdom company, QinetiQ, and is now part of the Airbus High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) programme.

Development

The Zephyr 7 holds the official endurance record for an unrefuelled, unmanned aerial vehicle with its flight from 9 July to 23 July 2010, lasting 336 hours, 22 minutes and 8 seconds. It could also remain airborne for months thanks to its solar cells and rechargeable batteries. Record claims have been verified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) for both duration and altitude, at 21,562 meters. It more than doubled the previous endurance record for unmanned flight.

In a 2008 demonstration for the US military, a smaller-scale version of the Zephyr (Zephyr 6) performed beyond the official world record for the longest-duration unmanned flight, however its 82-hour flight at an altitude of 61,000 ft (19,000 m) did not set an official record because FAI officials were not involved in the flight.

Design

It is of carbon-fibre construction, and uses sunlight to charge a lithium-sulphur battery during the day, which powers the aircraft at night. The aircraft has been designed for use in observation and communications relay.

The vehicle can circle over a particular area for extended periods. The military uses the vehicle for reconnaissance and communications platforms. Civilian and scientific programmes use it for Earth observation. During the day, Zephyr uses its state-of-the-art solar cells spread across its wings to recharge high-power lithium-sulphur batteries and drive two propellers. At night, the energy stored in the batteries is sufficient to maintain Zephyr in the sky. The lithium sulphur batteries are supplied by Sion, and the first version had a battery capacity of 3kWh.

Zephyr 7 is bigger and requires five individuals to launch, as opposed to three previously. The team runs gently into the wind until it lifts out of their hands. Zephyr 8 is now under development and will be bigger still, with a 28-metre wingspan.

The Zephyr system was sold to EADS Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) in March 2013 where it has successfully re-flown as part of the High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) programme In 2014 it flew for 11 days in winter, and later near civilian airspace.

The 53 kg Zephyr typically climbs to about 40,000 ft on its first day, and then maintains between 60,000 ft and 40,000 ft thereafter.

Applications

United Kingdom

In November 2015, in the House of Commons, British prime minister David Cameron laid out plans during the 2015 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), to further enhance Great Britain's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capacity. In the speech, he stated that the UK was to field a 'British-designed unmanned aircraft that will fly at the edge of the earth's atmosphere and allow us to monitor our adversaries for weeks on end, providing critical intelligence for our armed forces." The British Ministry of Defence later confirmed the purchase of three Zephyr 8 platforms based on the earlier Zephyr 7 testbed. Janes International Defense Review suggested (Nov 2015) that, the only known 'near space' UAV platform currently being designed by Britain was the Zephyr. A purchase of two Zephyr-8's was reported in February 2016.

The Zephyr-8 will have roughly 24 kg of batteries and a 5 kg payload, and be 30 percent lighter and carry 50 percent more batteries than the Zephyr 7.

Specifications (Zephyr 7)

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: 0
• Capacity: 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) payload
• Wingspan: 73 ft 10 in (22.50 m)
• Gross weight: 117 lb (53 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Newcastle University custom permanent-magnet synchronous motor , 0.60 hp (0.45 kW) each

Performance

• Cruise speed: 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

See also

• NASA Pathfinder
• SoLong
• Solar Impulse project
• Vulture (UAV)
• Air Strato

External links

• Zephyr product information on QinetiQ website