Li-S, which plans to develop lithium sulphur batteries, has been aiming at the drone market because of the advantages its significantly lighter product has over the mainstream lithium-ion battery used in cars and phones.

V-TOL Aerospace, based at Rocklea, has also been developing drone technology and together they plan to “create a family of drones” capable of long-endurance tasks in areas like surveillance and security in remote and regional areas, farming, disaster response and research and exploration by geologist and biologists.

The deal adds impetus to an emerging aerospace industry in Queensland. Boeing is also developing its own drone from its Brisbane headquarters and several companies including the Gold Coast’s Gilmour Space Technologies and Brisbane-based Valiant Space and Black Sky Aerospace are developing their own technologies.

Wisk Aero and ASML Aero are also planning air taxis in the hope they would be available for the 2032 Olympics.

Li-S said the demonstrators were being designed and built to determine what synergies and efficiencies can be achieved with the combined technologies. Its battery development is currently at the stage where it is the same size as a lithium-ion battery but half the weight, which is a significant advantage in drone development.

V-TOL already has a small, fixed-wing drone, Pegasus 1 and now plans Pegasus II to be part of the collaboration.

“Modelling has predicted that the combination of the three technology platforms could deliver a drone with up to six times the flight time of current small, fixed-wing drone aircraft,” Li-S said.

It is currently developing its battery at a facility in Geelong and said it was anticipating a range of other collaborations with drone and e-aviation companies.

Chief executive Lee Finniear said the partnership with V-TOL and Halocell would provide the opportunity to create an all-Australian drone platform of international significance.

“We are bringing together three innovative Australian companies to build autonomous drone with wide-ranging applications,” he said.

V-TOL managing director Mark Xavier said the end result of the collaboration could be a family of high-tech drones, sensors and robots capable of operating from dawn to dusk.

“All three partners are at the cutting edge of their respective technologies and the combination of all three offers some exciting opportunities to test the limits of what is currently possible,” he said.

The third partner, Halocell, is a Wagga Wagga-based company that is commercialising perovskite solar cells, which it said would add a new dimension to flight times and efficiency.