Fuel Cells for Dismounted Warfighter Use

摘要

Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) has been developing fuel cell power sources for the US military, including warfighters use in an austere environment with minimum access to resupply and vehicular transportation. These dismounted warfighter applications require systems that are power and energy dense to minimize the load burden. A number of fuel cell products have been developed for these applications, and the performance of these systems are discussed. Significant advancements in power density and energy density have been made, resulting in increased relevance to users. Based on recent advances, it is anticipated that these fuel cells will be transitioned as a viable alternative to the incumbent power solutions upon successfully meeting cost, reliability and ergonomic targets.