Hydroplane is thrilled to announce it is a winner of the U.S. Army’s xTechSearch 8 competition for its whitepaper and pitch presentation to develop its zero-carbon emission hydrogen fuel cell powerplant for Army aerial vehicle electric propulsion and auxiliary power use cases. The Army’s xTechSearch program accelerates innovation by bringing cutting-edge technologies to the military.
“This deeply appreciated award helps us move towards a 500 KW powerplant that can be used in Army vertical lift and UAV platforms,” says Hydroplane CEO Dr. Anita Sengupta. “We recently completed development of a 120-kW aviation hydrogen electric propulsion powerplant as part of our US Air Force Agility Prime contract. We propose to do the same for the Army, and at even higher-power levels.”
The award is a $35,000 cash prize. Winners are then invited to submit proposals for Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding. If awarded, that will allow Hydroplane to collaborate with the Army to define performance, durability, and operations requirements. Phase 2 requires developing, prototyping, and testing an engineering model powerplant for aerial platforms. Phase 3 is commercial manufacture of the powerplant. Phases 2 and 3 will carry additional funding.
Hydroplane has already received Phase 1 and Phase 2 U.S. Air Force (USAF) Agility Prime Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts, a US Navy Phase 1 SBIR contract, and a California Energy Commission CalTestBed voucher. Hydroplane has utilized these government investments to accelerate commercialization of the company’s novel hydrogen fuel cell powerplant technology for aviation electric propulsion and auxiliary power.
Development is well underway on Hydroplane’s modular hydrogen fuel cell powerplant for the general aviation market. The company’s novel electric propulsion powerplant will replace combustion-piston driven engines in currently certified, experimental, and future aircraft.
As a winner of the xTechSearch 8 competition, Hydroplane has been invited to exhibit at the US Army xTech and Army SBIR Innovator’s Corner at the 2024 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., October 14 to 16, 2024.
