Solar-Electric UAV Prototype Flies Virtually
Bye Aerospace, the company that’s developing the Sun Flyer electric primary trainer, has its sights set on the defense market with a solar-electric model, the StratoAirNet
Bye Aerospace, the company that's developing the Sun Flyer electric primary trainer, recently demonstrated a solar-electric prototype in a virtual war-game simulation at the ACE15 event hosted by the Air Force Research Lab out of Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
Focused on medium- and high-altitude missions, the proof-of-conceptStratoAirNetfeatures a 45-foot wing span, utilizing a lightweight composite structure, a sailplane-like wing and solar-charged electric propulsion.The UAV is nearing completion and undergoing final assembly for upcoming ground and flight tests.
For the ACE15 games, a fleet of the UAVs acted as a remote radar installation, loitering at 52,000 feet while deploying an L-Band radar to detect (remembering that this is all virtual) manned aircraft flying within their designated patrol area.
"We believe our StratoAirNet family of UAVs will eventually have the capability to fly with almost unlimited flight endurance using solar-electric propulsion technology," said George Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace.
Other potential commercial mission applications for the StratoAirNet include communications relay, search and rescue, firefighting command and control, anti-poaching monitoring, damage assessment, severe weather tracking, agriculture monitoring, mineral source surveying, spill detection and infrastructure quality assessment.
Learn more atByeAerospace.com.
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