BAE Systems Unveils Hybrid Electric Drive System for Army Ground Combat Vehicles
August 20, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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BAE Systems demonstrated a hybrid electric drive system for ground combat vehicles as part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.
BAE Systems is working with General Dynamics, Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. on creation of the hybrid electric drive system.
The FCS Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) family of eight vehicles is the first ever planned operational Army suite of ground combat vehicles to use hybrid electric technology, according to BAE Systems.
The first use of the hybrid electric drive technology will be in the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) - the lead FCS ground combat vehicle slated to begin initial production in 2008.
The NLOS-C, designed and built by BAE Systems in partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems, is a fully automated, 155 millimeter (mm) self-propelled howitzer.
FCS is the U.S. Army's principle modernization program, which is made up of a family of manned and unmanned ground and air systems and sensors connected by a common network.
The test marks a significant milestone in technological maturity of the hybrid electric drive system, said BAE Systems.
The test is the first evaluation of the complete MGV hybrid electric system consisting of the engine, generator, generator dissipater controller, traction drive system, energy storage system and cooling subsystem.
"… The result is a hybrid electric drive system with improved fuel economy and a resultant reduction in the Army’s logistics footprint," said Hugo Croft, vice president, FCS and Advanced Programs at BAE Systems.
"Its advanced energy storage, electric traction drive, power generation, regenerative braking and integrated power management technology all serve to provide our warfighter's increased performance and unprecedented flexibility."
Other features include:
- Increased power for integration of high efficiency electric drives, sensors and computing systems.
- Exportable electric power that reduces logistics burden for towed generators.
- Enhanced low-speed maneuverability.
- Smaller overall vehicle profile for concealment.
- Low acoustic signature and quiet ride.
- Embedded diagnostics/prognostics permitting maintainers to directly determine the source of faults and advanced planning for unscheduled maintenance.
- Designed to produce high amounts of electrical power - equivalent to the demand of 300 typical American homes and more than 10 times that provided by a current force vehicle. There is sufficient electric power to enable the use of future high power technologies.
In addition, the MGV design allows for future improvements by decoupling the power generation unit from the drive train architecture.
The existing power generation unit can be replaced by a fuel cell, for example, once this technology matures to further improve fuel consumption, acoustic signature and mobility performance, said BAE Systems.
Source: BAE Systems.