SULE Aircraft Hits Milestone With 24-Hour Flight

Swift Engineering announced that its Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE) aircraft reached an altitude of 55,904 feet MSL, more than doubling its previous altitude, in a flight that lasted more than 24 hours.

The aircraft took off from and landed at Spaceport America (9NM9), in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The endurance of the flight opens up new possibilities for scientific research, environmental monitoring, and aerospace and defense applications with SULE deployed as a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) aircraft.

“As a HAPS solution, the solar-powered SULE is designed to stay airborne for multiple weeks at a time,” said Hamed Khalkhali, President of Swift Engineering. “Its wide range of applications includes communications relay, internet/comms in underserved or remote areas, ISR needs, forest fire monitoring, traffic management, disaster relief, agriculture, change detection and many others. In addition, it is significantly lower in cost to manufacture and operate compared to other available offerings.”

The autonomous, all-electric SULE has a 72-foot wingspan and 15-pound payload capacity, providing a long-range/endurance platform while delivering seamless communications relay capabilities to all Swift platforms along with big-picture situational awareness. Swift is part of a two-year program with NASA to develop uncrewed aircraft with extended endurance progressing from 24 hours to 48, and eventually up to 7 days.

FMI:  www.swiftengineering.com/