Category Archives: Aircraft Propulsion & Energy

Zulu Pods Receives Phase 2 SBIR Award from US Navy

Zulu Pods Inc. has been awarded a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), part of the Department of the Navy (DoN). The award will focus on continued efforts to develop novel, innovative fluid delivery systems for next generation jet engines used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Continue reading

New NSK Gas Turbine Generator Bearing Promotes Longer eVTOL Flights

NSK has launched a new gas turbine generator bearing specifically for use in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, including large drones. Among the major advances of the bearing are higher speed revolution performance and a new mechanism that reduces the necessary lubricant supply by around 80%, providing a significant contribution to longer eVTOL flight range. Continue reading

Kratos Completes Significant Milestone on Cost Optimized Limited-Life Turbofan Engine

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that Kratos Turbine Technologies has successfully completed a ground test campaign of a Cost-Optimized, Limited-Life Turbofan Engine. The engine testing was managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate, Turbine Engine Division (AFRL/RQT) under the Attritable Cost Optimized Limited Life Engine Technologies (ACOLLET) program. Continue reading

Piasecki Succeeds First Flight of Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Tilt-Duct VTOL Vehicle

In an aviation milestone, Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) successfully conducted the first flight of its innovative proof of concept tilt-duct Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Demonstration Vehicle (ARES-DV), marking a significant leap forward in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology. Continue reading

Structural Batteries Pave Way for Light, Energy-Efficient Vehicles

When cars, planes, ships or computers are built from a material that functions as both a battery and a load-bearing structure, the weight and energy consumption are radically reduced. A research group at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden is now presenting a world-leading advance in so-called massless energy storage – a structural battery that could halve the weight of a laptop, make the mobile phone as thin as a credit card or increase the driving range of an electric car by up to 70 percent on a single charge. Continue reading

Blueflite Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tech Revolutionizes Long-Range UAVs in Australia

Blueflite is set to address the growing global demand for safe and reliable storage of hydrogen fuels for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through a collaborative early-stage project supported by the Northern Territory Government. The ambitious project, which will also see Blueflite open its Darwin-based premises, seeks to develop a lightweight, high-pressure, hydrogen vessel (tank) using Advanced Fiber Placement (AFP) technology pitched squarely at the underserved, long-range, UAV sector. Continue reading