UTC Aerospace, a division of United Technologies Corp., said the U.S. Office of Naval Research has selected it to proceed to the next phase of development for an undersea propulsion system.
UTC is developing a fuel-cell energy system based on proton-exchange-membrane technology.
The propulsion system will power an unmanned undersea vehicle just 21 inches in diameter, the company said. The system is meant to provide a longer range and greater flexibility than the Navy’s current battery technology.
In the most recent phase, UTC said it operated the system successfully for more than 30 hours.
UTC Aerospace Technologies was formed in 2012 through the acquisition Goodrich Corp. and Hamilton Sundstrand.
Correction: The original version of this story inaccurately stated the amount of time UTC had previously operated its propulsion system.
