Engineering news
The Ministry of Defence is to acquire a third Airbus Zephyr-S High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite as part of a £13-million contract with Airbus Defence and Space (ADS).
The ultra-lightweight Zephyr-S is the latest version of a series of ultra-lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), capable of flying up to 70,000ft - twice the altitude of a commercial airliner.
Referred to as a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), it performs more like a satellite than a conventional UAV and can provide persistent surveillance or communications over the same area of land or sea for up to 45 days at a time.
Sophie Thomas, HAPS programme manager, said: “Zephyr is a highly cost-effective complement to satellites and conventional aircraft with the potential to bring unique communication and surveillance capabilities to the UK and other nations.”
Running exclusively on solar power and flying above the weather and civil air traffic, the latest generation Zephyr-S has a wingspan of 25 metres, is 30% lighter and can carry 50% more batteries than its predecessor. This enables the Zephyr-S to carry heavier payloads for its surveillance and communications roles.
The third Zephyr-S will join the two previously ordered by the MoD in February.
Built in Farnborough by ADS, all three will form part of an Operational Concept Demonstrator (OCD) to assess Zephyr’s capabilities and explore its potential for use by the UK Armed Forces and other government departments. With the addition of the Zephyr-S two airframes will be able to be tested simultaneously. This, said the MoD, will demonstrate operational handover to show that the capability could be “sustained indefinitely”.
The precise purposes for which the MoD will use its Zephyrs have not been disclosed.
Defence secretary Michael Fallon said: “Zephyr is a cutting edge, record-breaking piece of kit that will be capable of gathering constant, reliable information over vast geographical areas at a much greater level of detail than ever before.
“They are part of our plan for stronger and better defence, backed by a budget that will rise each year of this decade. That means more ships, more aircraft, more troops available at readiness, better equipment for special forces, more being spent on cyber – to deal with the increased threats to our country.”
Trial of the Zephyr's will be held in 2017.