It’s stealthy. It accelerates almost instantly. It carries multiple tons of equipment. And it’s powered with a hybrid engine.
This could be the future of the military’s ground fleet, if the military approves BAE Systems’ bid to build a hybrid Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV). But, the new technology faces skepticism among some in the military, and many in the defense industry are prepared for a hard sell to get hybrids into combat roles.
“Hybrid electric drive is ready for the battlefield and our war fighters deserve to get that vehicle,” said Mark Signorelli, BAE Systems’ Vice President of Ground Combat Vehicles, at a press forum on the new hybrid technology.
The vehicle, which has not been built yet, is designed to run on both diesel and electrical power. When it runs on fuel power, the battery recharges. BAE Systems’ officials describe the proposed vehicle as survivable, economical, modular, and built to last. The batteries are also designed to export power outside the vehicle, like a generator, proponents said.
“Hybrid vehicle becomes an electricity generator,” said Joe Taylor, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of ground combat systems. “I’m dependent upon an outside source for the electricity that would go into an all-electric vehicle. With the hybrid, I have the ability to generate that power in the field.”
The Army is already making use of the added fuel efficiency of hybrid vehicles, but solely in noncombat roles, said Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and the Environment in an interview provided by the Army’s media relations division.
“When you link together various technologies, you’re able to greatly improve fuel efficiency, and fewer fuel convoys on the road means we put fewer soldiers in harm’s way,” Hammack said.
She said the Army has incorporated more hybrids into its fleet than any other branch in the military, and ranks third in the entire federal government for hybrid use. But, not all military officials are quite ready to give hybrid ground combat vehicles a try. An official we spoke with did not identify a single model that the Army deemed ready for deployment.
“The army is willing to look at any sort of technology, including hybrids,” said Matthew Hickman, an Army spokesman. “And they’ve got to be as effective as the vehicles that we currently have over there.”
All combat vehicles currently have the capacity to run on the same fuel, JP-8, a jet fuel that powers the military’s planes. Hammack said the Army would not consider vehicles dependent on fuel sources that aren’t proven to pack at least as much power as JP-8. Although she didn’t list energy output specifically as a barrier for hybrid vehicles, the caveat does impose a big requirement to hybrid manufacturers.
“It would not make sense to use a fuel that has less energy output so that would mean that you’d have to have more fuel to do the same mission,” Hammack said. “That’s not a tenable solution.”
But there’s no question about the power of hybrid technology, according to Brian P. Wynne, President of the Electric Drive Transportation Association. He said cars with electric power components have penetrated the consumer vehicle industry, and have also appeared under the hoods of heavy-duty locomotives.
“We need to understand that electric motors have been around for a long time, and you can pull a train with an electric motor,” Wynne said.
The ground combat vehicle isn’t the first hybrid design BAE Systems has presented. A spokesman said the company has built hybrid prototypes several times in the past.