How can all this be achieved? Because hydrogen-powered fuel cells produce an
electric current at the time of the conversion of hydrogen and oxygen into
water. So the by-product, water, is pollution free. Its fuel cell propulsion
system can also pack a powerful performance that is potentially twice the
efficiency of an internal combustion engine. This spring, Ion Tiger’s flight
trial is expected to exceed the duration of previous flights seven-fold.
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is conducting research in fuel cell technologies
for UAVs since 2005. Dr. Karen Swider-Lyons who is the NRL Principal
Investigator states “With UAVs, we are dealing with relatively small fuel cells
of 500 watts. It is hard to get custom, high-quality fuel cell membranes built
just for this program. So we are riding along with this push for technology from
the automotive industry.” So they are giving due credit to the automotive
industry in procuring the necessary materials. Dr. Karen Swider-Lyons further
draws our attention to the core issue. She says, “What’s different with fuel
cell cars is that developers are focused on volume…so they want everything very
compact. Our first issue is weight, our second issue is weight and our third
issue is weight!”
In the end we can safely conclude that the Navy and Marine Corps are looking for
more efficient sources of energy. ONR has been making forays into research and
testing power and energy technology for decades. Often they are successful in
improving their ships, aircrafts, vehicles on account of efficiency and power
generation. But the benefits are not limited to the military alone. Ultimately,
their efforts yield a direct benefit to the public.
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