Defense Business Brief: Hybrid sky drones; Amphibs; Mobile data centers and a bit more
Hybrid engines are in the news as consumers seek relief from gas prices boosted by the war on Iran, but military customers are also looking beyond internal combustion. “There's a lot of interest in battery-operated, electric-driven drones…but there's also a lot of interest in heavy, fuel-based drones” that use JP-8 , says Greg Thompson, president of Survice Engineering . “Batteries are great, they're very clean, they're very efficient. But transporting them, maintaining them, storing them, charging them—all that can be a little bit of a growth phase…and so there's still this hunger for a fuel-
The increased focus on military drones, exacerbated by global conflicts, is driving a renewed examination of their propulsion systems, especially considering logistics and energy independence.
This highlights the ongoing tension between advanced, clean energy solutions and pragmatic, logistically simpler legacy fuel systems in defense applications.
The defense sector's approach to drone power is diversifying, with traditional fuels maintaining relevance alongside battery technologies due to practical constraints.
- · Survice Engineering
- · Defense contractors with hybrid propulsion expertise
- · JP-8 fuel suppliers
- · battery-only drone developers without robust logistics solutions
- · manned aircraft manufacturers
The military will likely invest in diversified drone fleets, leveraging both electric and fuel-based systems for different operational profiles.
This dual approach will lead to parallel research and development streams in both battery energy density and efficient fuel-based drone propulsion.
It could spur innovation in self-sustaining portable charging infrastructure for electric drones to overcome their current logistical hurdles, eventually benefiting civilian applications.
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Read at Defense One