Official recognition for 80-hour UAV flight

MANASSAS, Va., July 17 (UPI) -- An unmanned aerial vehicle by Aurora Flight Sciences has officially been recognized as achieving world record in flight duration –more than 80 hours.

The recognition was given separately by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the National Aeronautic Association, which described the 80-hour, 2-minute and 52-second flight or the Orion UAV late last year a memorable milestone.

"We're thrilled to receive notification that FAI and NAA have officially recognized this groundbreaking development in unmanned flight," said Dr. John Langford, chairman and chief executive officer of Aurora Flight Sciences. "The U.S. military put the challenge to Aurora to develop a long-endurance unmanned system that far exceeded the capabilities of existing technologies.

"We met and exceeded our customer's requirements for the aircraft. The most important recognition for Orion will come when the aircraft is put to work meeting exactly what U.S. warfighter is calling for – unmanned, persistent surveillance of our enemies."

Orion, with a maximum payload of 2,500 pounds, is for use at altitudes up to 30,000 feet. It is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions but can be used for strike operations with the addition of hard points on its wings.

The previous UAV long endurance record – just over 30 hours – was set by the Global Hawk in 2001.

Aurora said it received notification of the FAI decision earlier this month.