AV Puma Sets Battery-Powered UAS Flight Record

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) manufacturer AeroVironment (AV) has set a new record for a battery-powered flight by its Puma small unmanned aircraft.

Powered by an onboard fuel cell battery hybrid the Puma flew for nine hours – beating the previous flight time of seven hours.

AV says the demonstration marks a milestone in its Phase II small business innovation research contract with the US Airforce Research Laboratory for the development of advanced energy storage and propulsion technologies for UAS.

AV developed the battery pack, power electronics and controls for the system, which uses Protonex Technology’s Pulse UAV fuel cell system.

By staff writer