AFRL Develops Lighter-Weight Battlefield Power System

  • Published
  • By Propulsion Directorate
  • AFRL/PR
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  AFRL engineers advanced and deployed a battlefield power system that reduces the carrying loads of Air Force forward battlefield operators by 24%. In the past, operators carried up to 35 lbs of batteries into the field. AFRL developed the lighter-weight power technology over the past 3 years, completing both developmental and operational testing. This new technology incorporates a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery, a zinc air battery, and a handheld power manager that hybridizes the energy sources and provides power to the operator's equipment. 

Battlefield operators previously used a number of Li sulfur dioxide batteries (BA-5590s) to power their equipment. This battery has considerable weight and a relatively low specific energy density; further, it has no means to provide information regarding its current state of charge. These and other factors contributed to limited use of BA-5590s during the origins of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. AFRL engineers responded to the challenge of improving the availability and reducing the weight of the battlefield power system; they also incorporated additional capabilities, such as information on the system's state of charge. AFRL first took advantage of existing zinc air battery technology by leveraging the BA-8180 product. Originally developed by Electric Fuel Battery Corporation under contract to the Army, BA-8180 is now available as a commercial off-the-shelf item. This battery is relatively lightweight and has a high specific energy density compared to BA-5590. The engineers used BA-8180 in their developmental system to provide a constant trickle charge to a primary Li-ion rechargeable battery. 

MediPak Energy Systems developed the Li-ion battery under contract to AFRL. The technology provides a reduced-weight battery capable both of being recharged from any 30 VDC power source and of providing high current under heavy load. By hybridizing this battery technology with the BA-8180 product, the AFRL team increased the system's overall energy density while decreasing the weight of the operator's carried load.

Smart Fuel Cell, Inc.--also under contract to AFRL--developed the power manager used in the new battery system. The product acts as the interface between the power sources and the equipment. It is capable of efficiently selecting and converting power from variable battery source options and delivering optimum power to the equipment at the correct voltages. The power manager also indicates the Li-ion battery's state of charge, providing the operator greater situational awareness of his or her battlefield
power system's status.