Airbus military drone built for Ministry of Defence ‘crashes’ on test flight in Australia
An Airbus drone built to carry out surveillance missions for the Ministry of Defence was downed by bad weather on a test flight in Australia last month, it has emerged.
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The Zephyr solar-powered drone is believed to have crashed on the test flight because of a mishap shortly after take-off, The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday.
The 15 March flight was “interrupted earlier than planned due to adverse weather conditions,” an Airbus spokesperson said.
“We are working hard on preparing for the next trial.”
The Zephyr is designed to linger at an altitude of about 70,000 feet (21km) for months at a time for surveillance or to provide a temporary boost to communications.
In February, Airbus said it had build its first Zephyr global operations site in a remote part of northwestern Australia, because it had ideal weather for testing.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau declined to comment.
Separately, Airbus' outspoken chief executive Tom Enders stepped down as planned at the company's annual general meeting yesterday, to be replaced by Guillaume Faury, the previous president of Airbus’ commercial aircraft business.
At the same meeting, the board ushered in a new chairman, Rene Obermann, a former chief executive of Detsche Telekon. Obermann will take over in 2020.
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Enders has overseen a steep rise in Airbus' share price over the past few years, but the firm still faces investigations over alleged bribery by French and British anti-corruption watchdogs.