The 4.5-pound, hand-launched Raven UAV (model pictured here) can fly for up to 90 minutes at low altitudes (less than 500 feet) while wirelessly beaming to the ground live video and other sensor data aimed at signaling what's over the next hill--during day or night. With a wingspan of 4.5 feet and a range of about 33 feet, it's currently being used by the U.S. Army in Iraq, where it has logged more than 23,000 flight hours, and belongs to a family of small UAVs produced by a California-based company called AeroVironment. Armed with a five-year, $4.7 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the company is currently exploring alternative ways to power its flying machines , which already use rechargeable batteries. Under exploration are on-board, fuel-cell battery hybrid power systems, solar cells melded into the wings and hydrogen storage technologies.
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