The US Army’s ground vehicle research laboratory is exploring different types of batteries in a quest to electrify its fleet of military vehicles.
The initiative is part of the service’s objective of fielding an all-electric fleet of light-duty non-tactical vehicles by 2027 to reduce carbon emissions.
A lab official told Breaking Defense that the US Army would work “incrementally” to achieve its goal, starting with the integration of Lithium-Ion batteries in some of its ground vehicles.
Currently, most army vehicles are powered by lead-acid 6T batteries.
Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center branch chief Laurence Toomey explained that shifting to Lithium-Ion batteries will allow for “extended” operations and improve anti-idling capabilities.
The new batteries will also reportedly enable onboard electronics to continue functioning when the engine is off.
“What they want to do there is they want to facilitate longer silent watch,” Toomey stressed. “They want to turn the engine off and conduct longer duration missions without the heat signature and a noise signature from the engine.”
