U.S. military officials recognize the need for efficient power electronics technologies, as the battlefield becomes increasingly digital. Officials found the military battery they needed for the U.S. Army’s M119 105 millimeter lightweight gun digitization program at Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. in Reno, Nev.
Altair Nanotechnologies is shipping 40 of its advanced military battery systems to equip the M119 artillery for network-centric warfare and the digital battlefield. The company is supplying the military batteries to a military testing program intended to demonstrate batteries that improve performance, reliability, and safety on the M119 gun batteries. The 24-volt/22 amp hour battery sports an integrated battery management system (BMS), and is for weapons, military vehicles, portable power, and backup power applications.
“The projected long-life of the batteries is an important attribute, which is expected to help the military replace batteries less often than shorter-lived, conventional lithium-ion batteries,” Terry Copeland, president and chief executive officer at Altair Nano, explains.
Managing the engineering and software design for the M119 gun digitization program is the Armaments Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. Battery tests should continue through this summer.
Once approved for the M119 lightweight gun digitization program, the Altairnano battery systems could be offered for use throughout the military’s M119 inventory, which numbers around 850 howitzers.
For more information, visit Altair Nano online at www.altairnano.com.
