An Overview of Novel Power Sources for Advanced Munitions

Todays advanced gun-fired munitions require power sources with increased power and energy densities, all in a smaller package. US Army Armament Research Development Engineering Center ARDEC has developed innovative power sources that offer a viable tactical solution for military applications and address the power life cycle of smart munitions. Novel power sources for advanced munitions were developed at ARDEC under an Army Technology Objective ATO titled Fuze and Power for Advanced Munitions. This program addresses the development of power sources for artillery rounds, medium and small caliber munitions, missiles and rocket systems. The focus of ARDECs efforts is to develop new energy sources, enhance the performance and capability of current power source components, and develop a systems approach to the management of power throughout the flight of munitions. This program was executed under the direction of ARDEC with the support from the Munitions Battery Team of the Army Research Laboratory ARL and a number of Small Business Innovative Research SBIR efforts. The program execution is focused on developing technologies that define a munitions power system budget needs to address the mission profile for different munitions. To achieve this objective, the mission power profile has been identified as follows 1 pre-launch power budget, 2 post-launch power budget and 3 flight power budget. The programs mission is to develop advanced, affordable, onboard gun-fired munitions power sources technologies with increased energy and power densities, reduced volume and weight, increased mission time and improved extreme temperature performance.