Supporting Battlefield Electrification
By T. White, with contributions from F.J. Anderson
Power connectivity Soldiers - Vehicles - Bases
The need to consider electrification of the battlefield is borne not only from a worthy green agenda, but with the push towards lighter, more agile force. With increased dependencies on unmanned systems, electrical power will become a key enabler in winning future battles. If we are to increase our operational effectiveness with the use of drones, AI and autonomy all complementing the digital soldier as well as our digitally enabled tanks and artillery, then we will need to become self sufficient in terms of energy provision as the strike force moves forward.
The British army has laid out a strategy in its Approach to Battlefield Electrification (2022) in which it sets out its aspirations for a progressive transition to an electrified battlefield and Ultra PCS have been working on several projects in support of this.
Power management on vehicles
The ability to integrate a soldier, with a vehicle, with a base is all set out in the open architecture approaches, such as the UK MOD LOSA or the US DOD MOSA standards. Typically focused on the data elements of digitisation, these standards are being updated to cover the very essence battle filed electrification, power generation, power storage, power management and power distribution.
Defining these standards will allow power to be shared from the individual solider, a fighting vehicle, right through to a command post or base, in both local and coalition operations.
Ultra PCS Microgrid Interface
The UK along with its international partners has been investigating Hybrid Electric Drive vehicles for some time, with vehicles such as the BAES Hagglund's SEP vehicle, the General Dynamics AHED platform and more recently a range of vehicles within the DSTL TD6 project.
Ultra PCS has developed a 600Vdc to 28Vdc power node capable of providing 10 channels of 28V power from a 600V platform source as well as GVA compliant Power Management software as part of its Platform Gateway Interface suite.
Whilst power on the soldier is well understood, and hybrid power architectures on vehicles receiving significant investment, power generation, power storage, power management and power distribution on the forward base has perhaps been left to chance.
UK Generic Base Architecture Standard
The Approach to Battlefield Electrification (2022) goes on to highlight that in 1945, one litre of fuel was needed per soldier per day; today it is 20 litres per soldier per day. This increase in demand increases the number of re-supplies and exposes troops to greater risk. One litre of fuel provided to a Forward Operating Base requires another 7 to get it there and 70% of fuel used in generating electricity for HQs goes to waste in maintaining capacity to deliver notional peak demands. The US Army has estimated there was one casualty for every 24 fuel convoys in Afghanistan. Between 2003 and 2009 over 3,000 US soldiers or contractors were killed or injured while supplying fuel in Iraq and Afghanistan. Having a strategy for improving energy generation and usage is therefore essential in future warfare.
Def-Stan 23-013, the Generic Base Architecture standard attempts to provide the foundation of future base power systems, describing how “microgrid” technology will be used to give a modular and scalable solution, providing a more efficient means of generating and storing energy, as well as opportunities to exploit non-fossil fuel sources.
A microgrid can be considered as a smaller version of a conventional domestic power grid, providing the generation and storage of electrical power and its distribution via a locally connected electrical network. Energy can come from conventional diesel generators, solar, wind and even exported power from vehicles. It is also possible to connect to a host nation supply. A microgrid can store energy in battery banks and convert it as and when necessary to provide power for a command post or base.
US Tactical Microgrid Standard
By integrating digital communication and control systems with traditional power, real time monitoring and energy flows make for an efficient modular, scalable power solution. These advanced control systems use smart algorithms with the intent of optimising the operation, whilst minimising the human input.
The US Army has made significant progress in developing smart microgrids, producing and publishing its Tactical Microgrid Standard MIL-STD-3071. As the diagram shows the US approach is very similar to the UK Generic Base Architecture, but whilst the UK Def-Stan defines plugs and sockets, cable types and voltages, the US TMS standard focuses on the way in which a microgrid is controlled by defining a set of commands to be exchanged by microgrid assets.
Ultra PCS has ongoing work to see if the UK and US standards can be harmonised for future use and has a concept interface in development.
Several research projects have been released via the UK MOD Future Labs framework and are accelerating the MOD's understanding and implications of adopting microgrids.
Project Spinneret aims to provide a sandbox capable of evaluating different microgrid technologies and should be operational later this year.
The current effort is in support of the UK Manoeuvre Power (MAN-P) programme which is set to provide the future electrical power demanded by manoeuvre Force Elements deployed in the Land Environment.
Wider afield within NATO, there are research challenges under the DIANA programme for Energy and Power that are seeking to investigate location-independent, on-demand power solutions with high reliability and resilience. These multinational efforts will ensure that there will be step change in the way electrical energy is delivered at the front line.
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