Boeing unveils Phantom Eye spy plane

Phantom Eye spy plane

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134702§ionid=3510208


Boeing has unveiled a new unmanned hydrogen-powered spy plane, called Phantom Eye, which can stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days.

"Phantom Eye is the first of its kind and could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications," Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, said at the unveiling ceremony in St. Louis on Monday.

"The capabilities inherent in Phantom Eye's design will offer game-changing opportunities for our military, civil and commercial customers," he went on to say.

With its short, squat body and 150-foot wingspan, the high-altitude plane is capable of long endurance flights because of its 'lighter' and 'more powerful' hydrogen fuel system, according to the Boeing Company.

The company further explained that Phantom Eye is powered by two 2-liter, four-cylinder engines that provide 150 horsepower each.

The new plane will be shipped to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California later this summer for its first flight in early 2011. The flight is expected to last between four and eight hours.