By Arie Egozi, Autonomy Global – Ambassador for Israel
Hydrogen continues to emerge as a preferred fuel for uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Israel-founded Heven Drones, now a subsidiary of U.S.-based Heven Aerotech, is positioning itself at the forefront of this shift with a portfolio of hydrogen-fueled platforms for defense, security and logistics missions. The company designed its systems to deliver longer endurance, higher payload capacity and lower operating costs than comparable battery-powered drones.
Hydrogen Power Advantage
Heven Aerotech developed its hydrogen drone line to prove that fuel cell propulsion can outperform lithium-ion batteries in both endurance and payload, a claim it backs with operational data from its growing fleet. According to the company, its hydrogen fuel cell architecture delivers up to five times higher energy efficiency than battery-based systems while maintaining low thermal and acoustic signatures for stealthier missions.
These drones are aimed at military, ISR and logistics users that need long-range operations with minimal maintenance and rapid turnaround. Production capacity in northern Israel currently supports up to 100 platforms per month. This enables Heven Aerotech to respond quickly to rising demand for hydrogen-powered UAV solutions.
Key Hydrogen UAV Models
Heven Aerotech now fields several hydrogen-powered UAV families, each tailored to specific mission sets and payload requirements. The company highlights the H2D55, the Raider and the Z1 as core pillars of its hydrogen portfolio.
- H2D55: Entry-level hydrogen multirotor designed to carry a 15-pound payload for up to 100 minutes, offering roughly five times the endurance of comparable battery-based systems in its class.
- Raider: Larger VTOL platform with a twin-fuselage architecture, built for more than 10 hours of endurance, a 50-pound (23 kg) payload, and a range of up to 1,000 km, with a focus on low radar cross-section and modular field assembly in about 15 minutes.
- Z1: Hydrogen drone capable of flights up to 10 hours with very low noise and heat signatures, already added to the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Blue UAS list to streamline procurement and qualified to support on-site hydrogen refueling.
When paired with AI-enabled mission management, these hydrogen fuel cell UAVs can conduct silent, long-range operations without frequent power system replacement cycles. This makes them candidates for heavy-lift logistics, ISR, missile launch support and defense resupply missions, including Israel Defense Forces (IDF) use cases that require non-Chinese-origin platforms and GPS-independent navigation options.
Raider: Force-Multiplying Hydrogen VTOL
Heven Aerotech points to the Raider as its flagship long-endurance hydrogen VTOL. Engineered to address the operational and logistical constraints currently facing modern forces, it offers more than 10 hours of hydrogen-powered endurance and a payload capacity up to 50 lbs. This system targets missions where both reach and lifting capability are critical.
Its modular twin-fuselage configuration improves aerodynamic stability. It allows operators to adapt the platform for different mission profiles without extensive recalibration. Vertical takeoff and landing, roughly 15-minute field assembly and a modular battery system that enhances hovering performance are intended to simplify deployment in austere or rapidly changing environments.
Beyond headline performance metrics, Raider has been designed for near-silent operation with ultra-low thermal and acoustic signatures. This supports discreet use in sensitive surveillance, reconnaissance and force protection roles. Multi-platform, multi-sensor configurations enable persistent monitoring of large areas, while on-site hydrogen generation can provide energy independence and continuous operations in remote, resource-limited theaters.
Israeli MoD Backing And “Actionable Drones”
Heven Drones designs its own proprietary operating systems and has been selected by Israel’s Ministry of Defense as the exclusive company to develop a customized fleet of hydrogen-fueled drones. The work is being conducted with DDR&D, the ministry’s specialized R&D arm for advanced technologies, giving the hydrogen UAV portfolio a strong domestic defense reference.
Joseph Weiss, president of Heven Israel and former president and CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), told Autonomy Global that Heven Aerotech’s platforms represent a new generation of “actionable drones” – systems built not only to sense and observe but to deliver tangible operational effects in the field. He emphasized that modular, mission-flexible designs, combined with hydrogen’s high energy efficiency, rapid refueling and reduced dependence on battery replacement, can significantly lower ongoing operating costs and support scalable deployment in both civilian and defense markets.
According to Weiss, these attributes allow operators to increase endurance, reduce logistical burden and rapidly reconfigure payloads in response to evolving mission needs. Integrated AI-driven autonomy further enhances real-time decision-making. This makes Raider and its sister platforms force multipliers in dynamic battlefield and high-tempo security environments.
U.S.–Israeli Partnership and Quantum Collaboration
The U.S.–Israeli partnership around hydrogen-fueled UAVs is drawing attention across the defense and autonomy sectors, particularly given parallel efforts in AI, autonomy and advanced propulsion. Heven Aerotech’s acquisition of Heven Drones and the establishment of dedicated production capacity underscore a strategy to serve both U.S. and international customers with compliant, non-Chinese-origin hydrogen UAV solutions.
In November, quantum technology company IonQ announced a new investment in and strategic partnership with Heven Aerotech. Weiss stated that the agreement will enable Heven Aerotech to integrate IonQ’s quantum computing, networking, sensing and security technologies into its autonomous aerial systems, with the aim of redefining mission resilience, stealth and operational performance in GPS-denied environments.By combining hydrogen fuel cells, AI-enabled autonomy and emerging quantum capabilities, Heven Aerotech is signaling a roadmap toward next-generation UAV architectures optimized for long-endurance, low-signature and high-resilience missions. For defense, security and critical logistics operators, these advances could reshape expectations around what uncrewed systems can do in contested and resource-constrained domains.