The Ion Tiger test flight took place at the start of October at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Hartford Country, Maryland (US) under the watchful eye of the Ion Tiger fuel cell development system team led by the US Naval Research Laboratory and including Protonex Technology Corporation, the University of Hawaii, and HyperComp Engineering.
According to its developers, the electric fuel cell propulsion system onboard the Ion Tiger has the low noise and signature of a battery-powered UAV, while taking advantage of hydrogen, a high-energy fuel. The 550-Watt (0.75 horsepower) fuel cell onboard the Ion Tiger has about 4 times the efficiency of a comparable internal combustion engine and the system provides 7 times the energy in the equivalent weight of batteries.
Small UAVs are growing in importance for naval missions, as they provide capabilities ranging from surveillance collection to communication links. Electric UAVs have the additional feature of being nearly undetectable from the ground. Due to the high energy in the fuel cell system onboard the Ion Tiger, it is now possible to do long endurance missions with an electric UAV, thus allowing a larger cruise range and reducing the number of daily launches and landings. This provides more capability while saving time and effort for the crew.
NRL's Karen Swider-Lyons says, "the long endurance flight was made possible by the team's research on high power, efficient fuel cell systems, lightweight hydrogen-gas storage tanks, improved thermal management, and the effective integration of these systems", while Michele Anderson from the programme’s sponsor, the Office of Naval Research, explains that, "the Ion Tiger successfully demonstrates how efficient, clean technology can be used to improve the warfighter's capabilities".
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