British drone flies for months

Author: EIS Release Date: Jul 26, 2023

A solar-powered drone built by BAE Warton, described as a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has reached 66,000 feet on its 24 hour maiden flight in New Mexico.

 

The drone, called PHASA-35, has a 115 foot wingspan, weighs 150kg and is powered by batteries at night allowing it to be airborne for several months.

 

 

 

It can carry a load of 15kg and applications are seen as environmental surveillance, disaster relief, border protection, maritime and military surveillance, and mobile Internet communications.

 

 

 

“It is the first in a series of trials planned to confirm system performance, support development activities and validate test points to enable PHASA-35 to be made available in defence and commercial markets internationally,” says BAE.

 

 

 

 

 

BAE says the drone can provide services ‘at a fraction of the cost’ of satellites and plans to Market PHASA-35 to military and commercial customers in the middle of the decade.