Extreme endurance is a desirable quality for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Very-long-endurance UAVs reduce landings and takeoffs, reducing the need for ground crews. They can be based far from an area of operations, where crews are not subject to attack. Long endurance also translates into responsiveness, if the vehicle can be loitering for days close to an area of interest.
However, there are challenges. Few heavier-than-air vehicles have demonstrated true multi-day endurance—Boeing’s Condor in the 1980s, QinetiQ’s small solar-powered Zephyr series, Burt Rutan’s round-the-world experimental aircraft and AeroVironment’s solar vehicles.
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