Batteries for vehicle-mounted high-pulse-power weapons is object of Army industry survey

WARREN, Mich., 22 Feb. 2011. U.S. Army tank and automotive technology researchers are surveying industry to find companies able to design and build specialized military batteries for high-pulse-power applications in current and future military vehicles.Officials of the Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Mich., issued a sources-sought notice (W56HZV11R0199) last week for a high power battery system for pulse power applications.High-power microwave (HPM) and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons could be used for combat, sabotage, and special forces applications. HPM weapons that might operate in 4 to 20 GHz frequencies could penetrate radio front-ends and electronic shielding to damage to devices and circuits.Pulsed power technology helps generate energy beams and high-power energy pulses for high-power microwave and electromagnetic pulse weapons, as well as for nuclear survivability and hardness testing, materials processing, waste and product sterilization and food purification, and electromagnetically-powered transportation.

HPM and EMP weapons could generate a very short, intense energy pulse to cause a transient surge of thousands of volts to kill or disable semiconductor devices, and bring down any modern electronic device within the effective range of the weapon.

The Army is looking for companies able to design and build batteries for high-pulse-power applications in military vehicles. The batteries should be able to operate in temperatures from -37 to 60 degrees Celsius, be stored in temperatures from -51 to 60 C, and be able to withstand military levels of shock and vibration according to MIL-STD-810.

Army TARDEC officials are asking industry for information on innovative concepts, component research and development, and control strategies and architectures related to energy storage systems to produce compact, common solutions applicable to several different fleets of vehicles to meet the growing high pulse power demand.

Companies interested should respond by e-mail no later than 1 April 2011 to the Army's Laurence Toomey at [email protected]. More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/notices/741ebf681c4dfd0bd48069dfb46a7549.