In a bid to further improve the capabilities of the Switchblade 300 Block 20 suicide drone, battery technologies developer Amprius Technologies is working with US defense contractor AeroVironment to develop next-generation batteries that can increase the drones’ flight time by around 50%.
By doing so, the drones will have greater endurance during deployment, as well as improved loitering capability.
As Brett Hush, AeroVironment’s vice-president for tactical missile systems, puts it, the new battery cells developed by Amprius can significantly improve the range and mission time for drone applications.
In doing so, operators can now deploy loitering missile systems from farther distances in order to identify threats and more accurately deliver lethal payloads while keeping collateral damage to a bare minimum.
An Ongoing Relationship
Under the agreement between the two firms, Amprius will deliver commercial-grade shipments of high-energy lithium battery cells in order to support the production of AeroVironment’s loitering munitions systems.
According to Kang Sun, chief executive at Amprius, this ongoing partnership with AeroVironment proves that his firm’s silicon anode technology has more than ample potential to improve advanced aviation systems and defense applications.
The two firms formally began their collaboration last year.
