UAV World-Record Flight Certified

Aurora Flight Sciences announced this week that it had received confirmation that its Orion unmanned aerial vehicle had set a new world record for the longest flight by a remotely piloted aircraft.

The Orion flew for 80 hours, two minutes and 52 seconds on Dec. 5-8, 2014, according to a company statement, besting the previous 30-hour record set by a Global Hawk in 2001.

Company CEO John Langford said in statement:

"The U.S. military put the challenge to Aurora to develop a long-endurance unmanned system that far exceeded the capabilities of existing technologies. Obviously, when taxpayer dollars are invested, the goal is not only to see if a long-endurance flight can be achieved, but to ultimately deploy the system in support of the American warfighter."