|
 Battery
power, rather than fire
power, is rapidly becoming a major
factor in military planning, as the electronics that power modern
and future systems are becoming more sophisticated, complex and
reliant on portable battery power. As the need for electrical
power is growing, so does the total weight of power sources – a
growing component of the soldier's load is the primary and backup
power sources for individual systems – communications, navigation,
imaging, computation, sensors, etc. The logistics burden of
supplying power to the battlefield is also growing and becoming
more complex, due to lack of battery standardization and
unification. For example, as operation Iraqi Freedom opened,
batteries were in very short supply, as troops in the south of
Iraq used half of the projected total war requirements in only a
few days. Supplies to combatants in the North of Iraq were
unavailable. Forward stocks of batteries drained during the first
days of the hostilities and the entire supply of the US Army was
to be used up in two months, if not replenished under an emergency
program. Batteries had to be airlifted from US depots to Iraq and
round the clock production of new inventories had to be initiated
with six manufacturers worldwide.
Today's need for
electrical power on the battlefield is high and continues to grow.
Unless sources of power evolve with the systems that use them,
they will create a logistics and tactical burden for the soldier.
Because new power-consuming systems quickly are becoming an
integral part of the way the Army plans to fight, better ways must
be found to support power requirements. Initiatives have been
started to save money on batteries in the long term and to enable
combat and materiel developers to reduce expenses early in a
product's life cycle. Power sources must be an important
consideration in all future materiel and combat developments. As
soldiers expect more out of the equipment they use, they must
expect more from their power sources.
Next.
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