Europe isn't quite as firmly on the bleeding edge of UAVs as the US. Northrop Grumman and EADS-run Cassidian just brought the continent one step closer through the first full test flight of Euro Hawk. A new take on the Global Hawk HALE with a new mission system from Cassidian, it should be the continent's first military UAV that mates both long flight durations with high altitude: the two partners expect Euro Hawk to collect strategic intelligence from up to 60,000 feet and for as long as 30 hours before it needs to touch down. There's more testing to go before active service begins -- the initial flight only lasted eight hours, for example -- but the unmanned flyer should eventually keep watch over German troops and territories well past the limits of human endurance.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Source: Cassidian
