Originally published on August 17, 2013<br /><br />A new small solar powered surveillance and reconnaissance drone that can stay in the air for up to 9 hours will be ready for production early next year after successful testing.<br /><br />Manufactured by Aerovironment, the solar Puma AE unmanned drone has a wingspan of 9.2 feet and features ultra-thin Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells on its wings.<br /><br />The Puma can be assembled and launched within 5 minutes. The solar panels extend its maximum flight time from 2 hours up to 9 hours.<br /><br />It's gimbaled electro-optical and Infrared camera allows operators to track moving vehicles.<br /><br />When its mission is complete the drone will automatically return to within 25 of a pre-determined GPS location and shut off it's engine.<br /><br />The Puma AE has been employed by the United States military for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes since 2008.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.<br /><br />For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:<br />https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Stay connected with us here:<br />Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
