Technology Drives Military Vehicle Design
Posted on March 10, 2009
Filed Under Uncategorized |
This is an interesting story about the design of the replacement vehicle for the U.S. military’s venerable Hummer. What caught my eye is that the prevalence of technology on the battle field is driving a critical design requirement for new vehicles, the ability to generate electricity. Early on in the Iraq war we adopted several soldiers and regularly sent care packages to support them, the most requested items were car magazines, baby wipes, and batteries, with emphasis on the batteries as the Army’s supply logistics were, at the time, a little behind the curve with regard to how much technology the modern soldier carries for fighting and leisure. I guess you can say it’s like the rest of us; I can’t believe how many batteries we go through on a regular basis.
In addition to being built to better survive mines and roadside bombs, the JLTV will be able to generate 30 kw of electricity (for operating all the new electronic gear, and recharging batteries), have an automatic fire extinguishing system and jam-resistant doors. Like the hummer, JLTV will be easy to reconfigure, for everything from a four seat, armed scout vehicle, to an ambulance, command vehicle or cargo or troop transport.
[From Armor: The Hummer Died For Our Sins]
30 kw of electricity is a lot of juice, at regular household line voltage that translates to about 250 amps, more than enough to power a large home.
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My name is Jeff Nolan and I write Venture Chronicles. These are my thoughts on technology, innovation, management, public policy and pretty much anything else that I find interesting.
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