Hydrogen propulsion pioneer ZeroAvia announced today it has been selected by an innovation arm within the Air Force Research Laboratory for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for a feasibility study to integrate hydrogen propulsion in a Cessna Caravan, in combination with aircraft automation technology. Known as AFWERX, the Air Force unit’s award targets research questions specific to the “most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF).”
Looks like this isn’t about competing with F-35s. It’s about next-gen logistics and eyes-in-the-sky platforms that could support special ops, surveillance, or remote base resupply with minimal footprint. I like.
Military “logistics” favor that all vehicles use the same fuel for all vehicles.
Think about it, hauling in special generators and special process systems and special pumps and specialized oxygen storage facilities into a war zone is nuts. What’s funny is that hauling in all the fuel to just run the generators is less efficient than just putting it directly into a normal aircraft! Madness.
Hydrogen as a fuel is silly, it takes a lot of energy to make it and it leaks through fittings that no other gas does. Commercial hydrogen is frequently made by cracking methane (natural gas). Way easier and cheaper to just use natural gas as fuel. BWI airport even sells it for the win!
Arthur, you are correct about conventional military operations. Fuel uniformity with JP-8 makes sense, it is exactly why NATO adopted JP-8 as the single battlefield fuel to simplify logistics. But for small, stealthy forward systems, hydrogen could reduce resupply risk if it is produced onsite.
As for commercial aviation, in case you may want to go there, it is a far stretch — the cost, complexity, and safety risks make it more of a liability than a solution.