Britain is buying a third Zephyr high altitude, long endurance UAV.
The purchase is part a 13 million pound (US$17 million) contract with Airbus Defense and Space.
“Zephyr-S is the latest version of a highly sophisticated series of ultra-lightweight UAVs, capable of flying up to 70,000 feet – twice the altitude of a commercial airliner – for up to 45 days at a time,” according to a Ministry of Defense news release. “Referred to as a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), it performs more like a satellite than a conventional UAV.”
The third Zephyr, plus two ordered last February, will be part of an Operational Concept Demonstrator in 2017 to assess the Zephyr.
