The Military and Veterans' Room
IARPA started a program to get contractors and universities to create a new type of battery that can be used for military purposes (starting with drones and small devices with the hopes of scaling up in the future).
IARPA Strives for Innovative Portable Power Sources
Future unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets may be able to operate in hot conditions for long periods of time if new power source research bears fruit. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has launched a program to develop portable power sources for unmanned and autonomous systems operating in extreme environments.
Known as the Robust Energy Sources for Intelligence Logistics in Extreme, Novel and Challenging Environments (RESILIENCE) program, the effort is tapping corporate and academic expertise to build power sources, largely batteries, that can provide an extended supply of power in the face of conditions that otherwise sap conventional batteries.
The result could be unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have greater loiter time as well as leave-and-forget devices with extended shelf lives that can spring into action after a long period of idleness in harsh environmental conditions.
IARPA has awarded eight research contracts to teams from industry and academia. The call for proposals is performance-oriented rather than technology directed, explains Dr. Dawson Cagle, IARPA program manager for RESILIENCE. “The targeted need is for power sources that can be super-reliable under the most demanding of environmental conditions where the safety of our people depends on it,” he adds.
“This is the very first funded research effort that the intelligence community has ever put forward on energy storage,” Cagle declares.
Batteries are the prime focus of most of the research, although one team is looking to build a Stirling engine small enough to fit in the space occupied by a AA battery, Cagle reports. The battery research represents a significant departure from conventional lithium-ion batteries, with companies pursuing a wide array of technologies.
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