Perspective on hybrid electric technology for future for army vehicles

Summary form only given. The U.S. Army is the primary provider of ground vehicles for both combat and tactical military applications. In keeping with its transformational goals, the Army has a great interest in making its future combat and tactical vehicle fleet significantly more fuel-efficient. At the same time the Army´s emerging requirements mandate vehicles that are more mobile, survivable, transportable and deployable, easily sustained, and, in the case of combat vehicles, more lethal. Designing, building, testing and fielding the Army´s future vehicles to achieve all of the desired capabilities for upgrades to the current force and to meet the objective capability associated with future combat systems (FCS) is a significant challenge. Meeting this challenge requires scientists and engineers to work together with industry to apply knowledge and integrate component technologies that have been developed over the past several years in Science and Technology (S&T) programs. Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology is a key enabler and an essential first step in the development of the ground vehicles of the future. This paper will describe several Army S&T programs focused on developing HEV components, power architectures and power management strategies; demonstrating the benefits and burdens of HEVs for military applications; and establishing that HEV technology is mature enough to transition from S&T into The next phase of acquisition-system development and demonstration (SDD). Programs discussed include: Power and Energy Hardware-in-the-Loop Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL), hybrid electric components for FCS Increment II, power component technology for FCS Power for FCS, and future tactical truck system