The advancement of technology has allowed an infinity of things to be created that help both people and companies and the environment. More and more aircraft are being manufactured using clean forms of energy rather than fuel. This is the case of one of the future aircraft that the United States Navy is working on.
This would have the ability to stay in the air for up to three months without landing. All thanks to a mechanism of solar panels installed on the two wings of the plane. It should be noted that it is an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Manufactured by an American and Spanish company
The company in charge of the manufacture of this plane is an American and Spanish aerospace company . They are tasked with creating technology that enables the United States Navy to conduct non-stop surveillance around areas where its ships are offshore.
It has dimensions of almost 72 meters and a large part of its surface is covered with these solar panels that allow it to generate a very large amount of energy.
The company even has a plan B in case there was a period when the plane had problems collecting solar energy: using hydrogen fuel.
This aircraft is an evolution of another similar prototype that could carry a crew and that made a trip around the world 6 years ago.
The reasons why the plane cannot carry a crew inside are very easy to understand: by saving space where these passengers would be accommodated, all that space can be used so that there is a greater payload capacity in the aircraft.
In fact, it can carry up to almost 400 kilos in terms of camera and radar devices.
An efficient aircraft with a future
It is a great advantage that the aircraft can stay in the air for so long without the need to make a landing. In this way, the plane can be constantly monitoring an area for weeks without stopping and does not have to interrupt its activity.
In addition, its use would mean a lot of savings for the United States , since it would save many costs since there is no need to constantly make reconnaissance aircraft take off and land and have them refuel each time they want to fly again.
The company is expected to test all functions of the aircraft autonomously: both takeoff and landing and the necessary tests while the aircraft is in the air.
When these tests are finished, then the ones that will last longer will begin in order to outline everything to make the plane capable of flying for 90 or more days.
The use of renewable forms of energy in air vehicles is a great advance and surely that in the future all aircraft will use this type of energy.