Sep 6 2002
Boeing has been awarded the contract to design a fuel cell-based propulsion system for an ultra long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The first phase of the project will require Boeing’s Unmanned Systems organisation to design the fuel-cell based propulsion system for the UAV and complete risk-reduction studies. It is expected that they will use currently available fuel cell technology in their design.
The second phase will involve building and demonstrating the propulsion system. This will take place in 2003
In the third phase Boeing will build and demonstrate the ultra long-endurance UAV platform.
The ultra long-endurance UAV will have a number of applications from military to commercial including roles in future communications systems.
For more details on fuel cells, click here.