Southborough-based portable fuel cell maker Protonex Technology Corp. has received an $800,000 contract extension with Air Force Research Laboratory for the development of a hybrid power system for unmanned aircraft.
The propulsion system for the unmanned planes is powered by Protonex’s ProCore fuel cell and a rechargeable battery. The company said the hybrid system can keep the unmanned aircraft in the air for up to five hours, twice as long as its previous range.
Protonex said the improvements it plans on making to the ProCore system could allow flight times of up to 10 hours.
