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U.K.-Made Unmanned Solar-Powered Spy Plane Shatters New World Record - By Mayur Pahilajani London, UK (iNews) - A U.K.-made unmanned solar-powered spy plane has shattered an unofficial world record by staying in air for over three days. The plane called Zephyr-6, which is built from carbon fiber and powered, using paper-thin solar panels, remained in air for 82 hours and 37 minutes. The 66 pound (30KG) plane, which was launched by hand on July 28, flew through the night on batteries it had recharged during the day time. QinetiQ Group PLC used sophisticated technology to guide the plane in air through remote access up to around 60,000ft and above that altitude it can be flown on autopilot via satellite communication. The company also said that it has broken the official world record of 30 hours and 24 minutes set by the U.S. robot plane Global Hawk in 2001 and the Zephyr's own previous record of 54 hours achieved last year. The flight of Zephyr solar powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was launched in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is being considered as a breakthrough in military intelligence. QinetiQ demonstrated the flight of Zephyr-6 for the U.S. military, which has been looking for new types of technology to support its troops on the ground. It is also likely that the unmanned plane will also be used by the U.K. in the battle ground for reconnaissance and to relay battlefield communications after the successful completion of the flight. But the latest flight conducted at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona was "unofficial" because Hampshire-based QinetiQ didn't involve the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) is the world air sports federation that sanctions all record attempts. Engineers behind the Zephyr at QinetiQ are now planning to further tweak the technology of the plane so it can stay in flight for months at a time.