UK company launches advanced electric jet engines for commercial drones

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While the commercial drone industry continues to rapidly expand, a number of key issues surrounding the safety, integration and noise pollution of unmanned aircraft are still not being addressed.

Founded in 2022, Greenjets, a UK company, is capitalising on these industry shortcomings with the launch of a family of breakthrough, electric jet engines.

Greenjets’ first propulsor to enter the market, named IPM5, has been designed to power the next generation of small, unmanned aircraft. The engine has an all-up weight of 750g/1.6lb and provides a maximum thrust of 5kgf/11.0lbf at an efficiency of 360W/kgf.

The IPM5 has been engineered around a ducted fan architecture, which offers both a reduction in noise and an increase in safety over open bladed propellers. Greenjets has also patented several features that overcome weight and efficiency challenges traditionally faced by ducted fans. Alongside the development of IPM5, Greenjets is using this technology to produce propulsors for eVTOL and regional aircraft.

Commenting Anmol Manohar, Greenjets’ CEO, said, ‘‘With a team that combines decades of knowledge in traditional jet engines from Rolls-Royce, expertise in volume production of automotive engines from Cosworth and expertise in electrification from the UK Motorsport Valley, Greenjets is uniquely positioned to be a world leader in this space with ultra-quiet and ultra-efficient engines.’’

Guido Monterzino, Greenjets’ CTO, added, ‘‘Moving forwards, we have a very different business model. Unlike our rivals who only offer off-the-shelf products, Greenjets can offer product as well as quickly create bespoke engines that match customers' precise requirements for weight and thrust, thanks to our proprietary design systems and manufacturing methods.’’