The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, Arlington, VA), has tapped Boeing Co. (Chicago, IL) to design a fuel-cell-based propulsion system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). DARPA said it would use currently available automotive fuel cell technology to speed up the process.
The three-step project calls for Boeing's Unmanned Systems organization to design the fuel-cell-based propulsion system and complete risk-reduction studies. Boeing will then take over and build and demonstrate the complete propulsion system and will build and demonstrate the ultra-long-endurance UAV platform that will use the propulsion system in the project's third phase.
