Stalker XVE drone crashes all records autonomy

One of the disadvantages of drones is their low autonomy. The main problem is that to increase autonomy, it is necessary to increase the amount of gasoline or the size of the battery, which overburdens the device and reduces the gain. Some manufacturers have circumvented the obstacle by replacing rotors, for example by balloon. Thus, the autonomy is exceptional, but the device is less versatile.

Lockheed Martin continues to work on it unmanned quadcopterand succeeded in setting a new world record for aircraft of Group 2 according to the classification of the US Department of Defense, i.e. from 5 to 25 kilograms. for him Drone It managed to fly for 39 hours, 17 minutes and 7 seconds.

Score thanks to the extra propane tank

To reach this new record, the manufacturer has modified a file Drone XV stalker. Basically, it has an autonomy of 8 hours with a fuel cell oxide hard Propane is used as fuel. The device weighs about 20 kg and can reach up to aSpeed 93 km / h and a height of 3658 meters.

In this case, Lockheed Martin added a small propane tank to its suite. The manufacturer has also improved the device for durability but does not provide details of the modifications that were made. The company requested a Certificate of Record from the Federation Internationale de l’Aviation (FAI).