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Wirth Research unveils details of unmanned endurance aircraft

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An Oxfordshire company is leveraging its motorsports expertise in the development of a Tilt Rotor, Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) advanced terrain mapping drone powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

Bicester-based Wirth Research is partnering with Singapore’s HES Energy Systems in the development of the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) that will carry out long-endurance missions with a primary mission payload of terrain-mapping sensors and on-board data processors.

According to Wirth Research, the UAS will be powered by an advanced hybrid power system, featuring a hydrogen fuel cell as its primary energy source. The complete hydrogen fuel cell storage, control and power system will be provided by HES.

The combination of ultra-long endurance and VTOL capabilities could see the UAS applied in precision agriculture, pipeline and cable inspection, surveillance, plus detection and monitoring support for ordnance clearance operations.

Nick Wirth, Wirth Research founder and CEO, said: “It has been extremely challenging for Wirth Research to meet the requirements of VTOL capability, six-hour mission endurance, packaging a bulky payload mass and providing that payload with hundreds of watts of continuous electrical power."

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