Heven drones unveils hydrogen-powered drone

Israeli company Heven Drones unveiled its new hydrogen-powered drone, the Raider, ahead of IDEX. The innovative model features long range, payload versatility, and a modular design, making it a must-have for modern conflicts.

The first flight of Raider is scheduled for the end of 2025, and its serial production is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Technical Features of the Raider

The Raider is a twin-fuselage drone with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability. This design allows the drone to operate from a variety of platforms, including warships, and simplifies its deployment in challenging environments.

The images show that the drone is equipped with four rotors mounted between the two fuselages, as well as a thin tail section. The drone’s payload is a container, which likely serves as a fuel tank or targeting system. The company did not specify whether the Raider can carry ammunition, but its payload capacity of about 50 pounds (22 kg) meets U.S. Department of Defense requirements, making the U.S. market a potential sales target.

Benefits of Hydrogen Fuel

The Raider’s key feature is its hydrogen propulsion system, which Heven Drones CEO Benzion Levinson says overcomes the shortcomings of traditional power sources.

• Combustion engines provide long range but have a high thermal signature, making them vulnerable to detection.
• Electric batteries are low-power and require frequent recharging.
• The hydrogen fuel cells used in the Raider provide five times the energy efficiency of batteries and allow the drone to travel up to 1,000 km without refueling.

Hydrogen is refueled from a mobile station that can be transported, for example, on a Humvee.

Market and Prospects

Raider is designed for ten-hour missions and occupies an intermediate niche between small quadcopters and large drones like the MQ-9 Reaper. Levinson claims that the new product will be “100-1000 times cheaper” compared to traditional MALE (Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance) drones.

Heven Drones conducts research and development in Israel, but its headquarters are in Miami (USA), which simplifies interaction with the American military and partners in the Middle East. The choice of IDEX to demonstrate the Raider is not accidental - Heven Drones is actively promoting its products in the region.

In addition, the company considers the Indo-Pacific region a key market, since conflicts in this area often occur over water, where long-range drones are especially relevant.