A solar-powered, unmanned aircraft has helped QinetiQ, a British defence research company, to win a key contract with Boeing to develop pilotless aircraft for the US Government for use in military and civil tasks.

QinetiQ, which was spun out of the Ministry of Defence seven years ago, will say today that it has been chosen by the American aerospace group to partner it in a project for the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop Vulture, an unmanned endurance vehicle that could be used eventually to replace conventional satellites.

QinetiQ's Zephyr prototype, which last year set a record for the longest unmanned flight, at 54 hours, could be used to develop unmanned fighting jets or so-called spies in the sky, watching borders and carrying out surveillance and communications in hostile terrain. They could also be used for domestic tasks, such as identifying speeding drivers on motorways.

Zephyr is a silent, ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft which is launched by hand. It weighs only 30kg. During daylight, it flies on solar power generated by amorphous silicon arrays that cover the aircraft's wings and are no thicker than sheets of paper. At night, it is powered by lithium-sulphur batteries that are recharged during the day with solar energy.

Simon Bennett, managing director of QinetiQ's applied technologies business, said: “Through our world-leading capabilities in solar-electric unmanned aerial vehicles, I am confident that we will make an important contribution to the Vulture programme.”

The Vulture vehicle's goal is to be capable of carrying a 1,000lb, five-kilowatt payload and have a 99 per cent probability of maintaining its position.

At the moment, the only systems capable of providing several years of coverage over a fixed area are satellites that orbit the earth at an altitude of 22,233 miles.

Pat O'Neil, programme manager at Boeing High Altitude Long Endurance Systems, said: “Such a 'pseudo-satellite' system, like Vulture, could provide compelling operational advantages in terms of persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and communications.”

Zephyr was originally developed to take photographs of the QinetiQ balloon that, five years ago, attempted to break the 40-year-old United States-held altitude record for a manned balloon. The plan was to launch the helium-filled balloon into space, an altitude of 25 miles, but the mission had to be aborted because of a problem during the balloon's inflation.

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