QinetiQ’s Zephyr is a very high-flying, ultra-light, solar powered UAV that's designed to break existing flight length records.

The Zephyr is one of the contenders in DARPA’s Vulture program, which eventually expects to field an aircraft whose flight length will be measured in years. The platform has also attracted the independent interest of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, New Jersey, who recently issued a $44.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to QinetiQ North America in Arlington, Virginia, for 7 Zephyr UAVs and 1 ground station. Work will be performed in Farnborough Hampshire, United Kingdom, and is expected to be completed by May 2014. This contract was competitively procured via a Broad Agency Announcement (N68335-09-C-0194). The DefenseLINK release cites “up to 3 months continuous operation” as the performance goal, which matches DARPA’s Phase 2 goals. On the other hand, DARPA has informed DID that this is not their award, adding that their Vulture program’s Phase 2 contract is not expected until summer 2009 or so.