April 28, 2008 -- A new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiative, codenamed Vulture, aims to create a plane that can fly continuously for five years.
A super endurance aircraft could continuously monitor everything from terrorist training camps to climate change or reestablish communications after disasters like wildfires and hurricanes.
Three companies, Aurora Flight Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin were all recently awarded grants to develop prototypes over the next few years that can carry 1,000 pounds of sensors at an altitude of between 60,000 and 90,000 feet.
"There is hard, and then there is DARPA-hard," said Aurora's CEO John Langford about the new challenge at a press conference last week at the Boston Museum of Science. Aurora Flight Sciences released details at the press conference on their design, which they call the Odysseus.
The current endurance record for an unmanned aircraft is now much shorter. Last year QinetiQ's Zephyr aircraft remained aloft for 54 hours.
The Odysseus is based on a radical idea: Instead of one single plane, Aurora plans to build three separate planes that take off individually and, once aloft, join together at the wingtips to create one giant 500-foot-wide craft.
In theory, more than three planes can connect, but "three is crazy enough," said Odysseus designer Robert Parks.
The new triple-decker Airbus A380, which will soon be the largest commercial airplane, is just above half the width of the proposed Odysseus. The Airbus A380 is so wide at 260 feet that airports will have to build special terminals to accommodate its broad wingspan.
Even more radical than three planes in one, the Odysseus can morph into a 'Z' shape, allowing it to tilt its wings, catching sunlight on wing top solar panels.
While it takes more energy to fly the aircraft in the 'Z' formation, the amount of energy gained by tilting the wings more than makes up the difference.
In the winter time, "it's the difference between flying in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Petersburg, Russia," said Parks.
Aurora also claims the Odysseus will be the world's first zero-emission aircraft. The plane will be flown more like a satellite than an actual plane, with operators working from a remote control room rather than at the helm with a joystick.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin were also awarded DARPA grants to develop ultra high endurance aircraft but have released only limited information about their designs.
Boeing plans to develop an unmanned design, similar to the Odysseus, that is solar powered and has no fuselage but is one giant wing.
Lockheed Martin's design, according to its Vulture Program manager Derek Bye, will incorporate "environmental energy harvesting and storage concepts" to power a single 300-foot unmanned aircraft.
Whoever develops the plane, there are many advantages of a high altitude, semi-permanent plane over a satellite, according Boeing's Vulture Program Manager Pat O'Neil. Planes can be repaired if damaged, equipped with the latest sensors, and can be easily repositioned.
A plane that can stay aloft for five years could continuously monitor anything from terrorist camps to global climate change, depending how it is equipped. Today only expensive geosynchronous satellites that orbit more than 22,200 miles above the surface of Earth have that capability.
Langford also notes that communications are the first thing that goes down during a natural disaster and that Vulture planes could coordinate rescue efforts when cell towers and land lines are destroyed. The Vulture could also extend the radio range of firefighters.
It will be at least a year before even scaled-down versions any of the companies' planes are flying.
Related Links:
Eric Bland's blog: What the Tech?
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Vulture initiative