American UAV MQ-9B “Sky Guardian” successfully had transatlantic flight from the training center for the drone operators in Grand Forks in North Dakota to Gloucestershire in Great Britain. On July 12, 2018, N + 1 reports this information with reference to the press service of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems company, which developed the device.
“Sky Guardian” has flown 6960km for 24 hours and 2 minutes. It is the first transatlantic flight of drone of medium size in the history, as well as the first case, when device under the control of operator which being out of line of sight entered in the airspace of Great Britain.
To the class of medium-altitude UAVs with a long duration of flight, it is customary to include drones, the cruising flight of which takes place at an altitude of 3000 to 9100 meters. Usually the duration of flight of such drones is from 24 to 48 hours, although can be increased as new engines and composite materials are developed. The height of cruise flight “Sky Guardian” is 7500 meters. The device can reach speeds of up to 210 knots (388 km / h) and is able to stay in the air for up to 35 hours.
UAV landed at the Royal Air Force Base of Great Britain, Fairford. In the near future, it will undergo maintenance and inspection of on-board systems, and from July 13th to July 15th of this year it will take place in a static exposition of the British air show RIAT 2018.
Data collected during the transatlantic flight, the developers plan to use in the certification program “Sky Guardian” in general with civil aviation airspace. After the completion of this program, an American drone, created on the basis of the MQ-9 “Riper”, will be the first certified percussion drone allowed to fly in a unified airspace.
The first drone,in the history which committed a transatlantic flight, in 2011 became the apparatus of “Euro Hawk”. Its development was carried out in the interests of the German Air Force on the basis of the American UAV RQ-4 “Global Hawk”. “Euro Hawk” flew from the US Air Force base Edwards in California to the airfield in German Manching for 22 hours. “Euro Hawk” belongs to the class of strategic drone. Its cruising altitude is 18,000 meters, and the duration of stay in the air is about 35 hours.
Source: https://военное.рф/2018/Бпла20/
