Advanced Liquid Hydrogen Storage and Employment Methodologies for Unmanned Aerial Systems - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV003

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

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Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage and delivery solution that can achieve high hydrogen mass fraction and a low boil off rate. Demonstrate that the cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage system improves endurance, range, and continuous payload power in an unmanned aerial system (UAS).

Description:

Hydrogen fuel-cell-powered air systems are becoming more prevalent in aviation [Refs 1-4]. Although compressed gaseous hydrogen has traditionally been employed to power these systems, cryogenic liquid hydrogen has recently started gaining traction [Refs 5-8]. Overall, liquid hydrogen storage provides added benefits such as reduced weight and volume compared to gaseous hydrogen storage, but there are still challenges to air vehicle integration and long-term use due to the extreme low temperature and other properties of liquefied hydrogen [Refs 9-10].

This STTR topic is seeking a liquid hydrogen storage and delivery solution that achieves high performance metrics while also maintaining longevity, safety, and usability for US Navy and US Marine Corps UASs. The performance metrics of interest for the delivered solution include a gravimetric hydrogen storage efficiency = 40% and volumetric hydrogen storage density of > 40 g/L. The integrated solution must also maintain a hydrogen boil-off rate of 100 fill cycles. The storage solution and filling procedure must also meet standard safety requirements such as those called out in DOC 06/02/E on the H2 Tools website [Ref 11].

Additionally, consideration should be made for integration into a range of UAS sizes from a Group 2 to Group 5. This shall include considerations for fuel level monitoring and sloshing effects during flights, as well as meeting necessary environmental (basic hot and basic cold), shock, and vibration requirements called out in MIL-STD-810-H [Ref 12]. Ability to demonstrate that the new cryogenic liquid hydrogen delivery system can manage and mitigate thermal loads of UAS mission systems is of particular interest. Finally, cryo-compressed hydrogen solutions will also be considered if it meets the key performance parameters outlined here.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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