Army to industry: What technologies will increase our ability to drive electrification to the tactical edge?
The Army’s on-the-horizon electric, tactical wheeled vehicles need to align with the commercial market so that industry can both build and sustain them.
By Breaking Defense on December 23, 2021 at 1:06 PM
GM Defense integrated GM’s production battery electric technology into its military vehicle and displayed the All-Electric Military Concept Vehicle at AUSA 2021. Photo courtesy of GM Defense.
With new CONOPS required for the Great Power competition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) canvassed Army leadership to determine what they require from industry to help them modernize their tactical wheeled vehicles (TWV).
Prominent on the list is vehicle electrification, along with a number of other
technologies already being pioneered by the commercial automotive/truck industry. These technologies include: active driver assist safety systems such as collision avoidance; condition-based maintenance and prognostics for vehicle monitoring; autonomy, both semi-autonomous (driver-assisted) and fully autonomous (driverless); fuels, lubricants, and emission-control technology to increase fuel efficiency; and advanced manufacturing to include composites and additive manufacturing.
While most of those other technologies address point aspects of TWV
performance, vehicle electrification covers a wide swatch of the modernizations the Army is looking for—from all-electric or hybrid-electric powertrain, anti-idle, and start-stop technology for fuel-demand reduction and silent watch, to exportable power that provides redundancy, replacing diesel generator equipment, and facilitating micro-gridding of multiple vehicles for power during natural disasters when the lights go out. To simplify, this means that Soldiers will have a greater ability to maneuver during silent watch operations. In addition, the lower acoustic signature that battery technology provides will enable stealth capabilities.
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/12/army-to-industry-what-technologies-will-increase-our-ability-to-drive-electrification-to-the-tactical-edge/
