Silicon-enhanced battery materials and components firm NEO Battery Materials has developed and manufactured its first battery cell designed for drone applications.

NEO received its first purchase order from an Asian manufacturer for drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) late last year.

The NBM Drone Cell, which is intended for reconnaissance and surveillance applications, achieves an average discharge capacity of 34.2 A and specific energy of approximately 300 Wh/kg, compared to 22.0 Ah and 214 Wh/kg in widely deployed commercial drone cells manufactured in China, NEO said.

This performance improvement was achieved without altering the physical size or dimensions of the cell, addressing a fundamental constraint in drone and unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms where battery dimensions are fixed by airframe and design.

These advancements are expected to translate into including prolonged flight time, widened mission operability and expanded payload capacity.

The development program was initiated following a teardown evaluation of Chinese-manufactured drone battery cells currently integrated into operational surveillance systems. The process enabled NEO to assess cell architecture, materials selection and performance characteristics, forming the technical foundation for a targeted redesign.

NEO engineered a new cell architecture optimized for higher energy density while maintaining compatibility with existing drone and UAS platforms. A total of 48 prototype cells were manufactured and evaluated to validate performance consistency and repeatability across the sample set.

Following cell-level validation, NEO has proceeded to battery pack assembly in collaboration with a pack manufacturing partner in South Korea. The company plans to conduct a live field test, installing finished drone cell packs into a commercial surveillance drone platform to evaluate performance under real-world operating conditions.

“Chinese-sourced battery cells currently represent nearly all global supply for drone and UAS platforms. Our demonstrated ability to materially improve performance at fixed battery sizes provides a compelling opportunity for customers seeking supply diversification, extended operational range, enhanced mission flexibility, and increased payload capacity without requiring system-level redesign,” said Mr. Seok Joung Youn, NEO’s Head of Facility Operations and Manufacturing. “NEO’s battery customization and optimization capabilities can be applied across a range of drone platforms and any battery-powered electronics systems.”

Source: NEO Battery Materials