VIDEO: U.S. Navy experimenting with fuel cell UAV
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Hydrogen fuel cells may not be ready for primetime when it comes to automotive use, but that doesn't mean there aren't any other suitable applications. For instance, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is currently working on an unmanned aerial vehicle called the Ion Tiger that uses a hydrogen fuel cell and is able to fly further with more payload than conventional battery-powered models.
"This will really be a 'first of its kind' demonstration for a fuel cell system in a UAV application for a 24-hour endurance flight, with a 5 pound payload," says ONR Program Manager Dr. Michele Anderson. Apparently, that's significantly greater than what's possible with other electric planes.
Other benefits to the hydrogen fuel cell design include the lack of emissions (obviously) and the ability to maintain stealth operations due to the machine's small size, low noise and low heat signature – perhaps not so important for automotive use, but a major boon when you're trying to spy on someone and/or murder them. Click past the break for a short video.
[Source: Physorg via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Toasty B52 11:55AM (4/21/2009)
Murder therm? Killing terrorists is not murdering. You stupid liberal hippies. Adoption is murder, not defeating the enemy.
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jake 12:52PM (4/21/2009)
Usually I don't like politics mixing up with posts here on Autobloggreen, but I have to make an exception here.
Because they are "terrorists" it's okay to kill all of them?
How many innocent people have we killed already in our war on terrorism?
Remember, we are supposed to be the good guys here, if we can't stand on higher moral grounds than the terrorists, then we have already lost.
Back on topic, hydrogen seems to make the most sense in airplanes (besides from backup generation use). Their costs aren't as much of an issue since airplanes cost a lot anyways and batteries still aren't that optimal for airplanes. As long as the refueling is still convenient it's a good option.
Andy 8:03PM (4/21/2009)
Stupid iphone. Abortion, no adoption.
brn 6:37PM (4/21/2009)
The term "murder" often gets misused. For a killing to be "murder", it must be illegal. If a terrorist (or fetus) is killed legally, it's not murder. You can disagree with the killing, but use the appropriate terminology please.
Jared 1:53PM (4/22/2009)
Abortion is not murder. If the fetus has never seen the light of day, it will never know what it is missing. I'd rather a woman have an abortion, then bring another child into their world that must starve.
Killing a terrorist is not murder either. They are terrorists because they wear civilian clothing, hide behind women and children, and use military-esqe tacticts. The US Military (and many others around the world) have a thing called rules of engagement. Terrorists just stick their AK's out from around a corner and blind fire into a street. It doesn't matter to them if they hit one of their own people or a US soldier. But it sure does matter to us. Why?
And Hydrogen power for the Military is very smart. The Military is one of the biggest consumers of fuel in the US. If the military converted even a 1/4 of their oil powered ships, planes, etc. into hydrogen, I bet it would cut emissions and maybe even costs. Also... Notice the compressed air tank used in the prototype that looks as though it was bought directly from a paintball store.
jharlan 12:58PM (4/21/2009)
The Navy can afford fuel cells, we can't.
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AMcA 8:39PM (4/21/2009)
Look, when the military kills people, generally (but not always) it does so with justification.
And a justified killing is not murder. Sorry, the world is not all sunshine and warm puppies.
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Chris M 9:31PM (4/21/2009)
H2 fuel cells are fine for this purpose, as the military has a huge budget, and these drones can dedicate a lot of fuselage space to the big H2 storage tank.
H2 fuel cells are a bit too expensive and H2 too bulky to power commercial jets, except perhaps as an auxilliary power supply, or to help power a hybrid electric/biofuel jet engine.
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