Re: Airbus Zephyr - HAPS
Posted: 17 Feb 2020, 13:45
To be fair we've got 2-3 Zephyr built/on the way for the MoD. Probably more HAPS than anyone else.dmereifield wrote:UK should be buying some!
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To be fair we've got 2-3 Zephyr built/on the way for the MoD. Probably more HAPS than anyone else.dmereifield wrote:UK should be buying some!
Sorry missed this.dmereifield wrote:Really, did I miss that it just forget, have we officially ordered them?
From the video it looks like this took place as well.Timmymagic wrote:- "plus associated lighter test aircraft" - Sounds like previous Zephyr generations being used alongside to prove flight control laws
But that's always been the case with satellite photography. The Zephyr doesn't intend to solve that, but does make it a more versatile capability.albedo wrote:This all looks impressive. But unless I'm missing something, it does seem very dependent on clear skies for most (all?) of its imagery. So, fine for the Arizona desert, but less so for eg wintertime NW Atlantic conditions.
To be clear, I'm not knocking it at all, just trying to understand the limitations. But a satellite can accept much heavier sensors and so perhaps with more specialist infra-red sensors, maybe radar sensors etc, can maybe see through more of the cloud layers. Whereas for Zephyr then sensor weight is presumably at a premium.RunningStrong wrote: But that's always been the case with satellite photography. The Zephyr doesn't intend to solve that, but does make it a more versatile capability.
Just like all imagery systems. But there are lots of other payloads in development, including 2 types of radar and LIDAR. Other payloads include ESM, Comms Re-broadcast, wide area IR and others.albedo wrote:This all looks impressive. But unless I'm missing something, it does seem very dependent on clear skies for most (all?) of its imagery. So, fine for the Arizona desert, but less so for eg wintertime NW Atlantic conditions.
Zephyr can also manoeuvre around cloud cover when it's not blanket to find a good angle to observe. Sat systems are somewhat limited in that respect.albedo wrote:To be clear, I'm not knocking it at all, just trying to understand the limitations. But a satellite can accept much heavier sensors and so perhaps with more specialist infra-red sensors, maybe radar sensors etc, can maybe see through more of the cloud layers. Whereas for Zephyr then sensor weight is presumably at a premium.RunningStrong wrote: But that's always been the case with satellite photography. The Zephyr doesn't intend to solve that, but does make it a more versatile capability.
So if your area of interest is under high atmospheric pressure (when the skies are more likely to be clear) then Zephyr could be a prime asset. But less so for low pressure areas. I suppose one counter argument is that if Zephyr can remain on station for days (weeks?) at a time then the probability must increase sharply of getting at least one good ground image in that time. But you just can't be sure of getting a decent image at any given date/time.
Possibly, but I suspect the reason is due to the break up of a Zephyr on launching at Airbus' site in Australia (not at Woomera). I wonder if they discovered some adverse conditions around there that have paused work. Bringing 3 sets of Zephyr over (2x Zephyr 8 and 1x Zephyr 7) does indicate somethings up. They might be trying to catch up the test programme to previous set goals that were paused due to the crash.NickC wrote:Perhaps why Zephyr back in the US, US Army interest, Project Convergence will include testing the Zephyr following its recent testing at Yuma.