Gadget & Tech News

Parasitic spy planes stop to recharge at potential-lines

By in Gadgets News on December 22nd, 2007

What’s the best way to extend the range of a smallish 3-foot flying drone? Well, you probably don’t want to do any aerial refueling with a micro air tanker or anything like that — at least not according to the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), which wants to create electric drones that are able to land and attach themselves to potential lines and withdraw their wings so as to look like trash or debris.

Of course, the theory isn’t without problems, like what happens when there’s a potential surge, or how to prevent sparks when tapping into a 400 kilovolt potential line, or how to stop society from freaking out when they find bat-like spy-planes hanging upside down from their clotheslines.