| SolarEagle | |
|---|---|
| Role | High Altitude, Long Endurance Unmanned aerial vehicle |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Boeing |
| Status | Cancelled |
The Boeing SolarEagle (Vulture II) was a proposed High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle solar- electric spy plane developed by Boeing Phantom Works. [1]
The proposed aircraft had a wingspan of 393.7 feet (120.0 meters), and was intended to remain airborne for up to five years at a time without needing to land. [2] It had 20 motors of the same type as the Qinetiq Zephyr designed by Newcastle University. Boeing was awarded an $89 million contract by DARPA's Vulture program, [3] with Boeing covering the remainder. [4] It was slated to make its first flight in 2014, but in 2012 the SolarEagle project was cancelled [5] and DARPA's Vulture program was refocused on advancing photovoltaic and energy storage technologies. [6] [7]
References
- ^ Haddox, Chris. "SolarEagle (Vulture II) Backgrounder" Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Boeing Phantom Works, September 2010. Retrieved: 18 October 2010.
- ^ "Remote robots: Human-free by land, sea and air". New Scientist.
- ^ "Boeing Wins DARPA Vulture II Program". MediaRoom (Press release). September 16, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
- ^ "The pilotless plane that can stay in the air for years". 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ^ "Facebook's UAV Flies, Builds On Developments In Solar Power | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com.
- ^ "Vulture". darpa.mil.
- ^ "Solar Drones Are Filling the Skies, But There's Still No Clear Winner". popularmechanics.com. 9 May 2019.
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