New solar Puma drone can stay airborne for nine hours
  • 9 years ago
Originally published on August 17, 2013

A new small solar powered surveillance and reconnaissance drone that can stay in the air for up to 9 hours will be ready for production early next year after successful testing.

Manufactured by Aerovironment, the solar Puma AE unmanned drone has a wingspan of 9.2 feet and features ultra-thin Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells on its wings.

The Puma can be assembled and launched within 5 minutes. The solar panels extend its maximum flight time from 2 hours up to 9 hours.

It's gimbaled electro-optical and Infrared camera allows operators to track moving vehicles.

When its mission is complete the drone will automatically return to within 25 of a pre-determined GPS location and shut off it's engine.

The Puma AE has been employed by the United States military for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes since 2008.

--------------------------------------------------------

TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.

For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
Recommended