Fuel Cells for Mobile Power to Help Army Infantry Face Enemy Fire

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Warrior Maven Video Above: Army Infantry to Fight Longer with Air Force Research Lab Fuel Cells

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

(Washington, D.C.) When dismounted U.S. Army infantry are attacking fortified enemy positions, taking hostile fire and moving quickly to find the best points for continued assault — “battery life” can determine mission success or failure and even — life or death.

Units of forward positioned Army soldiers may not have quick access to battery recharging and may therefore depend entirely upon the functionality of their batteries – needed to power night vision, radios, small soldier-worn sensors, portable laptops for drone control and other combat-essential items. Without the requisite battery power to advance, soldiers might be forced to retreat or, of even greater consequence, become far more vulnerable to enemy fire.

It goes without saying that attacking soldiers, especially those on the move on foot, need lightweight, electrically powered equipment for communications, data sharing, enemy tracking, targeting and some weaponry. Therefore, for many years Army weapons developers have been closely focused upon “lightening the load” for soldiers to increase combat quickness, endurance and functionality; this broad-sweeping effort includes not only lighter boots, body armor, belts, backpacks, and uniforms, but even some weaponry.

It is within this broader context that the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is now funding Cornell University to engineer small, portable, lightweight, durable and longer-lasting Fuel Cells engineered to produce electricity — Dr Purush Iyer, Army research office regarding AI & Fuel Cells Research, ARL, told Warrior.

Iyer explained how scientists are now working intensely to manufacture new smaller, safer and more efficient electricity-generating Fuel Cells for soldiers in combat. Larger form-factor Fuel Cells already exist. For example, Fuel Cells are now being integrated into “Auxiliary Power Units” for Abrams tanks. In a manner quite similar to the smaller Fuel Cells now under development, these larger Fuel Cells are being integrated to enhance and extend the performance of the Abram’s sensors, weapons, on-board electronics and computer systems. Like many armored combat vehicles, Abrams tanks are very power-dependent and fast-emerging modernization is increasingly requiring the vehicle to generate more electrical power.