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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - An unmanned, aerial vehicle that takes off vertically and flies like a high-speed plane was put to the ultimate test at the University of Maryland.

The AD-150 was tested to withstand high-speed winds. So far, the results have been very positive as the computer simulations closely resemble the actual experimental data. With the information gathered so far, researches say they are one step closer to developing an aircraft that can life off from ships, which maintaining a high speed.

"It is driven by 2,000 horsepower. We control the wind tunnel speed by controlling the rate at which the fan rotates," said Dr. Jewel Barlow, Glenn Martin Wind Tunnel director

The fan, at 19 feet in diameter, can create winds of up to 240 miles per hour, which are ideal conditions for testing a new military aircraft. "It takes off like a helicopter and can fly at high speed - 300 knots. Most aircrafts that take off like a helicopter or helicopter based and they can't go very fast," said Wayne Morse, American Dynamics president.

Creators of the new unmanned vehicle say the unique features will help with land and sea operations. "A major part of the mission, if there's a threat, you need to get there quickly to identify it and take action on that threat and at 300 knots, that's a very high speed and capable of traveling a lot of ground very quickly," said Morse.

The vehicle that was tested is the scaled down version of the actual one, which is 14 and a half feet in length and about 2,300 pounds. University of Maryland researchers have used the model to predict flight behavior.

"Every aircraft development of any size involves a combination of computation modeling and simulation and experiment," said Barlow.

A partnership between the University of Maryland and American Dynamics made the project possible. "If you can get together and become a team then the state will help fund a project," said Morse.

With American Dynamics being a small company, the president says it wouldn't have been able to raise enough money on its own. The university joined the company on the project during the summer of 2008. Just under one year later, they began the wind tunnel testing.

These types of projects fall under the Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program, which pairs small businesses and university researchers to create high-tech products.

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