Aircraft Designed To Deal With Thin Air, Extreme Temperatures

Military spy drones small enough to fit into a shoebox and costing just a few hundred yuan are reportedly being tested by China at altitudes normally considered too high for drone operations.

The South China Morning Post reports that the aircraft are being tested at altitudes considered "near space", between 12 and 13 miles above sea level. That has been considered the "death zone" for drones because the air is so thin it is difficult to generate lift, and the very cold temperatures greatly increase the possibility of the failure of batteries and other electronic components.

The new drone developed in China appears to have technology that solves those problems. According to the report, a research facility in Inner Mongolia says they tested an experimental drone at an altitude of about 15 miles. Two small aircraft were carried aloft on a high pressure balloon and deployed at different altitudes. The second was launched at about 5.5 miles.

The bat-sized drones are launched using an electromagnetic pulse that accelerates them from 0 to about 60 mph in a distance about the length of an arm. They then glide towards their targets about 60 miles away, sending data to a ground station while in flight.

The radar signatures of the drones are very small. Yang Yanchu, lead scientist of the project with the Academy of Optoelectronics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing said that the goal of the research is to launch a swarm of the drones in a single shot.

The drones have a blended wing lifting body, tailless design and carry multiple sensors, but not cameras. Yang said that transmitting photographs or video over such long distances would require bulky antennae that would not be conducive to flights in near-space.

(Image from the Academy of Optoelectronics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing)

FMI: Original report