Navy Flies Electric Hybrid Tiger UAV for 24 Hours Uninterrupted Written 20 April 2021

FlightGlobal reports that the US Naval Research Laboratory flew a Hybrid Tiger UAV from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland “for more than 24h in November 2020, its longest flight demonstrated.” The electric UAV “was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and solar panels on its wings, as well as using energy harvesting techniques, such as soaring on thermal updrafts, the laboratory said on 14 April.” Richard Stroman, a mechanical engineer from the Naval Research Laboratory Chemistry Division, said, “The flight was effectively a performance test in worst-case conditions: temperatures falling below zero degrees Celsius, winds gusting to 20kt [37km/h], and relatively little solar energy as we approached the solar solstice [on] 21 December. ... Despite all of that, Hybrid Tiger performed well.” The laboratory plans to test the fight endurance of the UAV in better weather condition this spring. That test could show that the UAV can “fly for more than two days continuously” with better conditions.
Full Story (FlightGlobal)