Every single day we happen to read (and to write) about some new spy plane, and with so many of them around, our skies (especially above areas where peace is at risk or absent, such as Middle East, Iraq or Afghanistan) are crowded with drones keeping a watchful eye over the terrain below from different angles and heights.
The latest novelty in this field was introduced by Boeing a few days ago and is called Phantom Eye. This spy plane with its peculiar egg-like shape and a 45m wingspan, can reach an altitude of approximately 65000 feet (around 20000 meters) and thanks to its twin 2300 cc engines, it can stay up in the air for up to 4 consecutive days while carrying a payload of approximately 200 kgs, and reaching a maximum speed of 150 knots, and all this without a pilot.
How a spy plane being pollution free?
Furthermore, Phantom Eye is capable of flying in an absolutely clean way, with a decidedly reduced operating cost, since its engines are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell; unlike normal engines mounted on commercial airliners, the hydrogen engine does not produce carbon monoxide, but pure and simple water, thus playing its small part to keep our skies clean.
For now, Phantom Eye is just a prototype, but by the early months of next year, after the first tests on the ground, we will start to see tests in the air of a vehicle that seems set to revolutionize the world of spy planes, not only for its technical characteristics (the surveillance equipment mounted on board should not dramatically differ from what is currently available on this market), but rather for being the first high-altitude UAV built with an eye to energy saving and clean energy.