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Zephyr Drone Has Been Flying For 17 Days From Arizona To Belize
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/zephyr-high-flying-drone-has-been-up-for-17-days-as-part-of-army-testIt is now 21 days aloft by my calculation.
There are images interspersed with the text at the above link.
The solar powered Zephyr S was last tracked over the Gulf of Mexico after having flown from its Arizona test area to Belize.
byJoseph TrevithickJul 1, 2022 7:14 PM
An Airbus' Zephyr S solar-powered, very-high-altitude unmanned aircraft is in the midst of a long-duration test flight and has already been aloft for 17 days so far. The drone, sometimes described as a pseudo-satellite in terms of potential capabilities, took off from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona last month for what the service says is a test of its highly efficient long-endurance flight characteristics as part of broader work to demonstrate its ability to serve as a persistent sensor platform.
The Zephyr S in question, a design originally known as the Zephyr 8, was first spotted on online flight tracking software taking off from an airstrip at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) on June 15. For the next ten days, the unmanned aircraft, which has been using the callsign Zulu 82, flew various patterns over the adjacent Yuma Test Range and Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. This isn't an uncommon sight as Zephyr has been undergoing testing high above YPG for some time now. What it did next, on the other hand, was uncommon.
The Zephyr S's flight activity on June 15, 2022, the day that it began its latest flight from the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground. ADS-B Exchange
An example of the Zephyr S's general flight activity as tracked online between June 15 and June 22. ADS-B Exchange
On June 23, the Zephyr S's flight activity began to include runs to the southeast roughly parallel to Arizona's border with Mexico, but the drone continue to spend most of its time in the air around YPG. Two days later, it departed the Yuma area, following a route along the southwestern border of the United States toward the Gulf of Mexico.
-----snip-----
byJoseph TrevithickJul 1, 2022 7:14 PM
An Airbus' Zephyr S solar-powered, very-high-altitude unmanned aircraft is in the midst of a long-duration test flight and has already been aloft for 17 days so far. The drone, sometimes described as a pseudo-satellite in terms of potential capabilities, took off from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona last month for what the service says is a test of its highly efficient long-endurance flight characteristics as part of broader work to demonstrate its ability to serve as a persistent sensor platform.
The Zephyr S in question, a design originally known as the Zephyr 8, was first spotted on online flight tracking software taking off from an airstrip at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) on June 15. For the next ten days, the unmanned aircraft, which has been using the callsign Zulu 82, flew various patterns over the adjacent Yuma Test Range and Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. This isn't an uncommon sight as Zephyr has been undergoing testing high above YPG for some time now. What it did next, on the other hand, was uncommon.
The Zephyr S's flight activity on June 15, 2022, the day that it began its latest flight from the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground. ADS-B Exchange
An example of the Zephyr S's general flight activity as tracked online between June 15 and June 22. ADS-B Exchange
On June 23, the Zephyr S's flight activity began to include runs to the southeast roughly parallel to Arizona's border with Mexico, but the drone continue to spend most of its time in the air around YPG. Two days later, it departed the Yuma area, following a route along the southwestern border of the United States toward the Gulf of Mexico.
-----snip-----
I've been checking https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae1313 periodically and the Zephyr is still aloft and is now flying patterns in the Yuma area. Perhaps it will break the 26 days aloft record.
1 replies
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