Special Topic: Expeditionary Power in the Arctic

The Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) and the Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) are seeking technologies related to Expeditionary Power and Energy (power generation, energy storage, power distribution, and battery charging) to enable 11th Airborne Division (Arctic) as a Special Topic under the AAL Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) W911NF-24-S-0008 for Disruptive Applications and related research as described below. The Government reserves the right to cancel this special notice without award for any reason. Issuance of this notice does not commit the Government to pay for any preparation costs incurred in compiling a response. The Army is looking for power generation, energy storage, and power distribution capabilities that are modular and interoperable at multiple echelons (organization sizes). Traditional capabilities are not easily distributed from large to small units (Battalion to Squad, for example) and enhancements are needed to meet the increasing power demands of additional battlefield capabilities (such as UAS, cUAS, and EW systems). Normally, field operations centers serve as power hubs for units from Company to Brigade sizes and run using one or more large (10kW+) and immobile generator(s) which have detectable signatures in acoustic and electromagnetic (EM) domains. Soldier power needs are serviced from these systems, which may create operational challenges due to inflexible output power and limited numbers of connections for power supplies, recharging, etc. In order to provide power for dismounted Soldiers’ equipment, they may carry an excessive weight of device-specific batteries, eliminating the possibility to share power between Soldiers or across devices (such as radios, GPS, sUAS). This problem is exacerbated in Arctic regions where cold temperatures significantly degrade battery performance, resulting in reduced battery operation time and the requirement to carry additional batteries. As a result, commanders must consider power capabilities when planning operations and assessing unit mobility/mission in Arctic environments. AAL seeks modular plug-and-play systems that seamlessly integrate into a resilient energy network. This includes large generation/storage capabilities down to individual power banks. Solutions should enable interoperable smart hubs, power conversion units, and sharing devices, capable of distributing energy over a 72-hour cycle. Proposed solutions should be capable of interfacing with a variety of standard and non-standard batteries—specifically Conformal Wearable Batteries (CWBs), BB-2590s, and other UAS batteries (XT60 and XT90 connectors) —enabling command centers to efficiently and simultaneously charge or power multiple mission-required technologies while enabling dismounted troops to share power. The Government is also interested in approaches that reduce Soldier weight burden, support low EM/acoustic signature, and enable continuous operations.