Gone Are the Days of Soldiers Hauling 50 to 70% of their body weight in gear, including 20.8 pounds of batteries for a 72-hour mission?

By Thomas Brading, Dan Lafontaine, DOD

For years, dismounted Soldiers have been overburdened by equipment which, while highly effective, often isn’t integrated with other equipment,” said Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, PEO Soldier. 

“(The Army) wouldn’t buy a tank piece by piece,” said Col. Travis Thompson, Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team chief of staff, to stakeholders. “So why would you buy a Soldier’s kit that way?”

Soldiers designing systems for Soldiers is dependent on [Adaptive Squad Architecture,]” Potts said, adding, the “from the bottom up” path to an integrated combat platform depends on the thoughts and ideas of every Soldier.

Potts, along with other senior leaders, has traveled the nation listening to Soldier’s needs, giving them a voice of change regarding their equipment.  

Dismounted Soldiers may carry from 50 to 70% of their body weight in gear. In the past, with each piece of new technology a Soldier received, came the burden of more weight to carry around, along with the challenge to find more space to secure it.

Lighter gear will be found by eliminating excessive power sources and heavy cords currently lugged around, and streamlining multiple tech capabilities through a single hardware device. 
“Our lethality comes from improving Soldiers’ kits,” said Potts. 

Engineers and scientists at AFC’s subordinate command — the Combat Capabilities Development Command, or CCDC — are making investments to ensure future power and energy needs are met by exploring improvements in silicon anode technologies to support lightweight battery prototype development. 

“This chemistry translates to double the performance and duration of currently fielded batteries for dismounted Soldiers,” said Christopher Hurley, a lead electronics engineer in the Command, Power and Integration Directorate, or CP&ID, of CCDC’s center for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance — or C5ISR.

“The capabilities of these materials have been proven at the cell level to substantially increase energy capacity. We’re aiming to integrate those cells into smaller, lighter power sources for Soldiers,” Hurley said. “Our goal is to make Soldiers more agile and lethal while increasing their survivability.”

Soldiers currently carry an average of 20.8 pounds of batteries for a 72-hour mission. With the Army focused on modernization and the need to add new capabilities that require greater power, the battery weight will continue to increase and have a detrimental effect on Soldiers’ performance during missions, Hurley said. 

The C5ISR Center is incorporating component-level R&D of advanced battery technologies into the Army’s Conformal Wearable Battery, or CWB, which is a thin, flexible, lightweight battery that can be worn on a Soldier’s vest to power electronics. Early prototypes of the updated silicon anode CWB delivered the same amount of energy with a 29 percent reduction in volume and weight. 

The C5ISR Center is finalizing a cell-level design this year, safety testing this summer, and packaging and battery-level testing taking place from fall 2019 to spring 2020. Advances in chemistry research can be applied to all types of Army batteries, including the BB-2590, which is currently used in more than 80 pieces of Army equipment. 

“A two-fold increase in capacity and runtime is achievable as a drop-in solution,” Ruth said. “Because of the widespread use of rechargeable batteries, silicon anode technology will become a significant power improvement for the Army.” 

The Army is developing two versions of the NGSW for Infantry and close-combat units. The NGSW Automatic Rifle will replace the M249 squad automatic weapon, and the NGSW Rifle will replace M4 carbine. The NGSW is planned for fielding 2021 or 2022. Versions of the weapon are intended to be equipped with sophisticated technologies such as ballistic calculation, intelligent targeting and tracking capabilities, wireless communication and advanced camera-based capabilities.

With increased capabilities, the NGSW will likely require more power than the current baseline systems. Therefore, it’s imperative that power requirements be considered early in the design process to inform the overarching requirements, according to Dr. Nathan Sharpes, a mechanical engineer with CCDC’s center for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance — or C5ISR. 

Currently, separate batteries are required for each device, such as scopes, range finders and thermal sights. With these advancements, Soldiers will not have to manage battery swaps and choose from a suite of enablers with varying battery types and run times. 

“Soldiers would have to carry just one battery type and swap less often. This will also lighten their load so that they’re more agile. There’s one battery with one swap,” said Dr. Ashley Ruth, a C5ISR Center chemical engineer. “It could also result in fewer battery types for the Army to procure and maintain in inventory.”

Video British Pathe training Army pack horses