{
  "id": 10658535,
  "title": "This hydrogen-powered drone maker believes lasers could be the next big airborne weapon",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/this-hydrogen-powered-drone-maker-believes-lasers-could-be-the-next",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-29T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91614176/this-hydrogen-powered-drone-maker-thinks-lasers-could-be-the-next-big-airborne-weapon"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ben Levinson, the CEO of Heven AeroTech, a Virginia-based drone manufacturer, envisions a future where hydrogen-powered drones serve as platforms for airborne high-energy laser weapons. Levinson, an infantry combat commander in the Israel Defense Forces, recognized the limitations of small camera drones and founded Heven in 2019 to develop heavy-lift capabilities. The company's Z1 drone is the first Blue UAS Select-certified hydrogen-powered system in the Pentagon's arsenal, with a flight time of up to 15 hours and a range of up to 500 kilometers. While Heven does not develop lasers themselves, Levinson acknowledges the potential of his platform for this purpose. The U.S. Air Force is currently developing airborne laser systems for testing, and the Pentagon has expressed interest in incorporating laser weapons into unmanned platforms for domestic air defense.",
  "summary": "This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars , a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. On a modern battlefield defined by the ever-expanding “ affordable mass ” of cheap, disposable drones, Ben Levinson wants to build something that lasts. Levinson is the founder and CEO of Heven AeroTech, the Virginia-based maker of hydrogen-powered…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}