Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) reported on the completion of tests of the domestic drone on hydrogen fuel cells. Its advantage over a comparable drone on regular batteries is the dramatically increased autonomy.

"The drone is powered by two fuel cell batteries with a power of one kilowatt. This power plant can ensure continuous flight of the device for up to 2.5 hours. If the same device is powered by lithium-ion batteries, then to ensure the same flight time, it will have to be periodically landed, changed or charged batteries", - said the head of the laboratory of the Physics and Chemistry Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Levchenko.

Specialists from MIPT and the Physics and Chemistry Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed compact and at the same time capacious fuel cells, several times higher in energy than traditional power sources, which has allowed to create a drone with high autonomy, and also environmentally friendly.

The prototype drone is equipped with two batteries on fuel cells, as well as a high-pressure hydrogen cylinder. The takeoff weight of the drone does not exceed 15 kg, it is capable of moving at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

"Our development has a number of obvious advantages: one of them is the potential ability to work at negative temperatures. The fuel cells differ from other energy sources by absolute environmental safety, since only distilled water vapor is emitted during operation", - added the head of the laboratory at MIPT Dmitry Grebtsov.

Developers believe that the hydrogen elements they have created can be used not only in drones, but also, for example, for charging mobile devices or in electric bikes.