SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass., 2 Dec. 2007.Protonex Technology Corp., a provider of advanced fuel cell power systems for portable, remote, and mobile applications, announced that the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and development partner AeroVironment have documented a record flight on a small, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) powered by an advanced fuel cell system from Protonex.
AeroVironment's "Puma" UAV system flew continuously for more than seven hours and was powered by the latest generation of Protonex's ProCore UAV fuel cell system.
The duration of this most recent demonstration flight represents a substantial increase in flight time for this class of small UAV. The standard Puma has a reported flight time of approximately 2 hours on rechargeable batteries, while other electric UAVs used by the military have flight times ranging from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.
The 7+ hour duration of the Puma flight using Protonex fuel cell power far surpasses the longest previous Puma flight achieved by AeroVironment using any technology.
Protonex has focused its ProCore UAV system developments primarily on existing UAV platforms like the Puma, which is an established military platform capable of meeting the stringent requirements for takeoff and landing, robustness, portability, and the ability to fly in a wide range of weather conditions.
The ProCore UAV system is a high-performance, ultralight fuel cell system, coupling fuel cell stack technology that can achieve 1,000 watts per kilogram with an advanced chemical hydride fueling solution.
