9 novembre 2018 | International, Terrestre
By: Todd South
As Army leadership looks to transform ground operations and logistics experts shave supply requirements such as fuel, work being done to generate more electric power with less fuel is at the heart of the land fight in the next wave of warfare.
The two paths converge at work being done to “electrify” the future vehicle fleet at the Army's center for vehicle research – the Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center. A November forum at TARDEC focused on advances in vehicle electrical power as service leaders, industry experts and researchers pursue ways to give more soldiers more power to run complex systems of the future.
The first such forum took place in June and laid out an overview of what will need to happen to reach Army goals. Over the next year, participants will refine their plans to build a complex fleet of vehicles capable of a host of tasks not yet fielded.
Vehicles have come a long way from moving forward and backward and carrying troops and ammo.
“The electrical demands on the Army's vehicles today are growing far beyond anything we've seen before,” said George Hamilton, TARDEC's lead for Vehicle Electronics Architecture. “Our focus is on developing and providing a modular, flexible and adaptable vehicle architecture that can expand to meet future demands of all kinds.”
And the goals are ambitious. The Army wants most of the electrification infrastructure in place or ready for testing by mid-2024 and a working, all-electric power train for the fleet by 2027.
The systems and capabilities that the electrification project is pursuing are aimed at enabling seamless Multi-Domain Operations in which forces can access limited windows in the fight at various domains, from the traditional air-land-sea to cyber-electronic warfare-space domains.
But, power demands on legacy vehicles only grow as more systems are added, experts said.
Over time, that's meant entirely new wiring, amplifiers and other electronics architecture for the same vehicles that have been in service for decades. For example, in 2001, the standard vehicle only required a 150 amp alternator to power its onboard systems.
Today, that same vehicle needs 10 times the amperage to run all of the weapon systems, computers, radios, monitors and cameras on current vehicles.
At a recent talk at the Association of the U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. Aundre Piggee, the Army G-4, said that future combat operations will not be able to rely on forward operating bases. Logisticians will need to find expeditionary ways to move supplies, especially fuel, to combat units.
Current brigade combat teams are able to operate for about three days before a full resupply. But Piggee said that the goal is to stretch that to seven days.
To meet that end, a variety of options are being explored, but the main supply saver is reducing demand, specifically fuel.
BCTs will need to use at least one-third less fuel to keep their standalone abilities at the one-week mark, he said.
That extends beyond petroleum and to battery life, power consumption on smart grids, and anywhere else that technology procedures and advancements can make the formation lethal as long with less fuel or power consumption.
So, at the same time that larger formations must be more self-sustaining and use less fuel, the systems that enable their fighting might will need more power.
Tomorrow's vehicles will need to do much more than what's being demanded now.
On the Army wish list are energy weapon systems to counter rockets, missiles and drones, wireless energy beaming to help with running unmanned ground vehicles and aerial drones with remote power, non-lethal energy weapons for crowd disbursement, silent modes for vehicle movement, high-power electronic jamming, electronic armor to deflect electromagnetic spectrum and projectile attacks, and long-range electromagnetic guns for multiple uses.
And the backbone of those capabilities is an open architecture powering system on the next wave of ground vehicles that nearly any system built today or decades from now can plug into, and it will provide the power needed to run.
Part of that, the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Electrical Power Architecture, has been in development at TARDEC since 2012.
Once implemented, the system is expected to provide fuel efficiency that will reduce fuel consumption by more than 10 percent and provide 20 percent more efficient power generation and energy transfer. That will put less strain on the vehicle systems while using less fuel and providing more power.
And, it can take powerful hybrid vehicles, those using both petroleum-based fuels and battery or fuel cell power.
This effort is coupled with a recent partnership between TARDEC and the U.S. Department of Energy into hydrogen fuel cell technology.
“We think hydrogen as a fuel source, and the fuel cells that generate electricity from the hydrogen, will enable enormous capability for our warfighters,” Paul Rogers, director of TARDEC, said in a release.
The applications go beyond fuel efficiency and reducing fuel logistics burdens.
“Vehicles using hydrogen run on electric motor propulsion, giving very low noise and thermal signatures while in operation,” Rogers said. “Additionally, we can generate valuable electrical power using hydrogen fuel cells that currently requires noisy and heavy generators.”
Both of those efforts could help not only operational forces in the tactical fight but the surrounding support that brings them their supplies.
7 septembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial
An Italy-based defense firm that has supplied small drones to the country's special forces was quietly and illegally purchased by Chinese state companies, Italian investigators claim.
27 octobre 2020 | International, C4ISR
Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — Ansys, an engineering simulation company, plans to purchase a Pennsylvania-based satellite tracking and modeling firm for $700 million, according to an Oct. 26 announcement. Ansys is preparing to acquire Analytical Graphics Inc., which performs software development for simulation, modeling, testing and analysis tools for a number a uses, though perhaps the 30-year-old company is most well known for modeling and tracking satellites on orbit to provide key data on orbital mechanics that helps operators avoid collisions and safely operate their equipment. That level of space situational awareness is likely to become even more valuable for satellite operators as space becomes more crowded. Experts predict as many as 10,000 new satellites to be launched over the next five years, driven by the proliferated constellations being developed by private businesses and the U.S. Defense Department. At the beginning of 2020, there were about 2,000 active satellites on orbit. Recent near misses have further highlighted concerns over space debris. In January, two defunct satellites nearly collided in low Earth orbit. While there wasn't much concern about damage to the two satellites, which had long ceased operations, a collision between the two would have sent debris scattering throughout space, posing a hazard to active satellites. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee — a group of space agencies from around the world — say such incidents are likely to occur every five to nine years. But as space becomes more crowded, experts worry the likelihood of a collision will increase. Ansys plans to add AGI's space situational awareness tools to its simulation portfolio, allowing customers to simulate their entire mission — from the chip level all the way to a satellite's orbital mechanics and connection to ground stations. “Ansys' acquisition of AGI will help drive our strategy of making simulation pervasive from the smallest component now through a customer's entire mission,” Ansys President and CEO Ajei Gopal said in a statement. “It will also expand the use of simulation in the key aerospace sector, where the stakes can be at their highest levels. We are excited to welcome the expert AGI team — and to expand the reach of their world-class technology to industries outside of aerospace, including for autonomy and 5G applications.” AGI was already an Ansys partner, but the latter hopes the acquisition will drive new aerospace and defense customers to its mission-based simulation services. “In the three decades since our founding, we have continuously invested in our technology to create and advance digital mission engineering,” AGI co-founder and CEO Paul Graziani said in a statement. “We are thrilled to become part of Ansys so we can dramatically extend the reach of our world-class products and help more customers accomplish their critical missions.” The acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2020, with Ansys paying 67 percent of the $700 million price tag in cash and issuing stock for the remaining amount. https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/10/26/space-situational-awareness-company-to-be-bought-for-700-million/
9 décembre 2024 | International, Terrestre