Spend enough time on the floor of a defense exposition, and you’ll find just about any kind of drone you can imagine. But recently, the Weapons and Warfare team came across something they hadn’t seen before, and that’s why HevenDrones is the weapon of the week.
To look at HevenDrones’ newest project, the H2D250, one might not think it’s all that different from dozens of other similar-looking models vying for a piece of the market. However, the company’s founder said it’s what’s under the hood that makes it something new to be reckoned with.
“We said we have to solve the energy piece. And when we’re looking for the ideal energy source for drones, we got the hydrogen. So it’s really one long story, which is, how can drones do more than just be flying robots, heavy lift, great. Getting to long endurance is what led us to hydrogen,” Ben Levinson, founder and CEO of HevenDrones, said.
So why hydrogen? Levinson says it offers three to five times the energy density of traditional batteries, extending flight time by hours. It’s ideal for places like the Indo-Pacific region.
“So it’s highly pressurized hydrogen that is sitting in a tank, small amount, about a pound of hydrogen. That’s it. And then we have a fuel cell. The fuel cell is taking that hydrogen and slowly making that into electricity. So we’re kind of creating, it’s like a power plant in the sky. So that’s how it works. So we’re going from again 30 minutes to about three hours, and our new systems, that actually include a wing, can already achieve 10 hours of flight time,” Levinson explained.
Operating in austere conditions, such as a small island in the Pacific, presents a host of challenges. Levinson said the drones don’t need much in the way of infrastructure. In fact, they don’t even need to add fuel to the supply chain.
“We actually have portable hydrogen refueling stations. So trailer-based, imagine your pickup truck or your Hummer, and there’s solar panels on the roof. So wherever you are in the world, once you have this station, you’re just creating your hydrogen. You’re using it. So if you’re on an island or wherever you are, there’s no need to get more fuel into the country. You just create your hydrogen with thin air every single day,” Levinson said.
The ultimate question is: What can HevenDrones provide to the warfighter? Levinson says they are focused on three aspects: logistics, a launch platform for other drones or ground robots and finally, delivering munitions.
“I think we as the U.S. and Israel, for example, realized over the past year after Oct. 7, that without its safety and security, our way of life, everything else is irrelevant. I think that we all have to work together again, as individuals, as companies, etc., to make sure that we as the U.S., we as the Western world, have these strengths and have the capability to continue to live our lives in the way of freedom that we all believe in,” Levinson emphasized.
At the moment, HevenDrones is still working with the Department of Defense and its various branches to secure a deal with U.S. forces. And if they are looking for proof of performance, they don’t have to look too far.
“Our drones are the leading drones working heavy lift in Israel today. We have a lot of experience on the ground, actually scaling up, and we’re just kind of getting ahead of the curve and what we’re expecting for the conflicts in the years and decades to come,” Levinson said.
But isn’t a hydrogen-powered drone super dangerous if it crashes or gets shot? Well, we asked Levinson says that while it may seem counterintuitive, they’ve done the testing to show hydrogen batteries are as safe, or safer, than traditional electric batteries.
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