Cost Benefit Analysis of the Wearable Fuel Cell vs. the Conformal Wearable Battery as the centralized power source for the Dismounted Soldier

摘要

Today's Warfighter is equipped with a range of technologies nearly all of which derive their critical performance from energy. Power demands unfulfilled at each echelon creates an energy gap at the next higher echelon. The Small Unit Power (SUP) Capability Development Document (CDD) [1] released by the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in 2013 has recommended the use of a an Integrated Soldier Power and Data System - Core (ISPDS-C) that distributes power from a core central power source to up to four connected peripherals to maintain an 80% or higher level of charge of peripheral batteries. The thin and ergonomically designed Conformal Wearable Battery (CWB) is the current choice for a ruggedized central power source. This approach reduces the need for spare batteries for each peripheral during extended missions. The ISPDS-C provides the ability to interface peripheral systems seamlessly with a variety of energy sources. It can also monitor the energy status of SUP systems, to plan and manage energy resources to best accomplish mission objectives. In a prior paper [2], we looked at the impact of substituting a Wearable Fuel Cell (WFC) for the CWB as the central power source. In this paper, we expand the Cost Benefit Analysis (C-BA) to determine the "should cost" of the WFC and its fuel cartridge. We examine the costs where it is competitive with the CWB for a set of fielding options of the recommended equipment to support 72-hour mission durations in austere environments. We have compared the use of the WFC and its benefit on "cost," "soldier load," "convenience," and "logistics."