Press sources indicated that the US military is working on an aircraft capable of flying all year round without the need to land, so that this technology will be used in the not too distant future.
The plane will carry solar panels that will allow it to have enough power to fly constantly.
The US company Skydweller Aero, the US Navy’s Technology Center and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit have been collaborating since last year on a project for an aircraft literally covered with photovoltaic panels,
which would allow the machine to fly uninterrupted at unusual distances and durations.
total budget of $20 million, Skydweller Aero is determined to produce its first functional prototype next year.
We owe this American start-up to the incredible Solar Impulse 2,
the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the world (40 thousand kilometers in 17 stages).
For the new project, the bar is set higher (if we can say so), since the new aircraft should be able to fly without a pilot on board, like a giant self-driving drone.
The project is very similar to the Airbus Zephyr, a solar-powered solar-powered drone that opened in the UK in 2018.
