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-based drone, and so we're trying to marry that together. Think of it like a hybrid car, like a Prius.” For the past year, Survice Engineering has been developing a hybrid-powered drone that it hopes to show defense customers later this year. The plan is to have a suite of electric only, fuel-based hybrid, and fuel-only drones in the Group 3 and above category. “We are looking at maybe late summer, early fall timeframe to be able to demonstrate to our customers at least a concept of what we can bring to market,” Thompson said of the hybrid option. “That hybrid gen set is part of what's next for us…and also continuing to develop the next higher-level platform that gives them the next class up in terms of lift, something that does hundreds of pounds and gives them more, more mission capability in terms of things like [casualty evacuation] and bigger payloads.”Hybrid-powered drones are quieter and can have a longer flying range compared to gas-only ones.. And their military use could be beneficial for surveillance operations or ferrying cargo long distances, such as across the Indo-Pacific. They could also serve as an alternative for purely battery-powered drones, which can lose precious energy capacity in different temperatures. And drone companies are increasingly spending capital to build hybrid offerings, said Michael Robbins, president and CEO of the drone trade group AUVSI. “You are seeing a lot of companies investing in research and innovation in hybrid propulsion, particularly as the focus increasingly shifts, at least in theory, to the Indo-Pacon region, where “In the Indo-Pacom theater, range is always a challenge. With the exception of maybe some very niche use cases like pre-positioned assets on Taiwan, virtually every other use case is going to not rely upon battery technology alone. And it's going to be some combination of jet-powered or some sort of hybrid propulsion,” Robbins said. “Drones grew primarily as a commercial technology. And for a long time because of FAA regulations, the drones were limited to a fairly narrow operation area, typically within line of sight of the operator. So range wasn't a top consideration in the same way it is for military missions. And now the Pentagon is getting very serious about drone acquisition and different use cases…I think there is a growing market for companies to enter into that space.”WelcomeYou’ve reached the Defense Business Brief, where we dig into what the Pentagon buys, who they’re buying from, and why. Send along your tips, feedback, and song recommendations to lwilliams@defenseone.com. Check out the Defense Business Brief archive here, and tell your friends to subscribe!More amphibs please. The Marine Corps needs at least 40 amphibious ships—nine more than statutorily required, Navy officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. And if funded, it’ll take six years to get there.

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