ESAero and Intelligent Energy Sign USA Distributor Agreement

Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. (ESAero), a leader in electric aircraft technologies, and Intelligent Energy Limited (IE), a manufacturer of lightweight hydrogen fuel cells for flight, have signed a distributor agreement for ESAero to represent the IE-SOAR fuel cell product line on fixed wing, rotary wing and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) applications in the United States.

ESAero produces unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) platforms for commercial and military applications. ESAero is an established leader in the field, demonstrating for decades their core competencies in the design and manufacture of innovative, efficient, and sustainable electric aircraft technologies. ESAero’s AS9100-certified manufacturing skills and Group I through Group III design and integration experiences are ideally suited to advance the use of IE’s SOAR and future FLIGHT product lines. ESAero’s U.S. market presence is well-positioned to accelerate customer integration of the IE-SOAR fuel cells into their products.

IE develops and manufactures hydrogen fuel cell products in the United Kingdom, with the IE-SOAR line delivering clean power from 800W to 24kW for aerial applications. The IE fuel cell line includes retrofit kits for integration into existing UAS products, enhancing mission performance that requires increased endurance. IE-SOAR technology unchains UAS from the restrictive flight times offered by current battery technologies.

ESAero engaged with IE in 2021, testing, validating, and integrating the IE-SOAR products in
VTOL and fixed-wing small and medium UAS, including ESAero’s own Group I FAST, a swarming
UAS system.

ESAero is excited about this partnership and will provide direct sales of IE’s fuel cells to US customers and engineering and design support for the integration of fuel cells and electric propulsion systems. Andrew Gibson, President & CEO of ESAero states “Intelligent Energy’s IE-SOAR products enable us to take our products and our customers’ products to the next level.

Not only do they significantly increase the endurance of existing battery-powered UAS, but they also do it in a clean and sustainable manner, supporting ESAero’s mission to bring the best, most efficient, and cleanest UAS and AAM capabilities forward to the aerospace industry.”

“In 2021 we identified ESAero as an ideal partner to represent our IE-SOAR products in North America. ESAero’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities perfectly complement the integration of our products. We are delighted to announce this distribution partnership and look forward to the North American market further realising the benefits of our technology,” Andy Kelly, Head of IE-Soar Product Line.

ESAero will feature the IE-SOAR Product line and Group II UAS Integration during the week of May 8 th , 2023 in exhibits at AUVSI “Xponential” 2023 in Denver, CO and at Global SOF “SOFWeek” in Tampa, FL.

About Intelligent Energy

Intelligent Energy is focused on the development and manufacture of its lightweight hydrogen fuel cell products ranging from 800W to 200kW for customers in the automotive, aerospace, generator, telecoms, materials handling and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sectors. The company is headquartered and manufactures in Loughborough in the UK.

For more info, please visit www.intelligent-energy.com

About Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. (ESAero)

As a leader in electric aircraft technology development, including NASA’s X-57 Maxwell, ESAero has built upon its experience to provide accelerated and advanced sustainable aerospace development technologies throughout the aerospace industry. ESAero’s services range from R&D, engineering, design for manufacturing, rapid prototyping and testing, to AS9100 certified manufacturing based in San Luis Obispo, CA.

For more info, please visit www.esaero.com