Zephyr: A High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle ...

Figure 18. QinetiQ’s Zephyr5.4 ConclusionHALE UAVs powered using sustainable sources are a thing of the future. The currentHALE UAVs require refuelling every few days and are very expensive to buy and torun. The nearest competitor to Zephyr is the Global Observer, however while it canonly fly for a week before needing to be replenished with liquid hydrogen, Zephyr canfly for months on end. It is still in its research and development stage with prototypesbeing built and tested, but it has however broken current records and will only exceedthem in the future.In order for it to be able to fly for as long as possible, it needs to be lightweight so lesspower is used to keep it in the sky. The aircraft is made of carbon fibre and all thecomponents are made and altered to keep the mass down.All the components on the aircraft are important to keep it in flight, however it is thebatteries and the solar panels that are the most critical. They use state of the artscience and are still being developed for maximum power, which can only mean astime goes on and more tests are being carried out they will get better.The only part of the aircraft that isn’t critical is the payload, but this is needed in orderto give the platform a use. There is no point having an aircraft that exceeds all othersin its category but cannot actually be used for anything. Whether the use iscommunications or imaging, in a few years time once Zephyr is completed, othercompetitors products will be look like they are from the dark ages.67