Neah Power Systems, Inc. will be partnering with Silent Falcon UAS Technologies (‘Silent Falcon’) to integrate the formic acid reformer (Formira™) based fuel cell technology into the Silent Falcon UAV. The fuel cell could significantly increase the mission endurance by between two times to three times the current duration, as well as enable heavier payloads. Formic acid is a safe, energy dense fuel, allowing easy handling, distribution, and refueling in remote locations worldwide, unlike compressed hydrogen.
The patent pending Silent Falcon is a solar/electric, all composite, modular small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) designed for commercial, public safety, and military applications. With Silent Falcon’s solar electric propulsion system, rugged composite structure, and three interchangeable wing configurations, it is the first sUAS capable of meeting long range and long endurance mission profiles.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Silent Falcon UAS Technologies. We are looking forward to this joint development of extending the mission endurance for their UAS,” said Chris D’Couto, president and CEO of Neah Power Systems, Inc. “The Formira technology uses a liquid fuel, and is a very attractive energy option as it does not have the low energy density, safety and handling challenges of compressed hydrogen.”
John W. Brown, Silent Falcon CEO said, “I believe the biggest advantage to having a Neah fuel cell on board Silent Falcon will not only be the extra endurance, but the ability to carry heavier and power hungry payloads. This is already one of our most important competitive differentiators and is what is attracting lots of folks to our products. Neah will also give us the ability to offer extended endurance at night, which is huge from our perspective. We look forward to integrating this technology into our UAV for a demonstrable performance advantage and the ability to serve an even wider range of markets and applications.”
Source: Press Release