COMMON ARCHITECTURE
COMMON ARCHITECTURE
Military's Provider of Tactical Electric Power Works to Enable Any
Power Source on the Battlefield to Be Interconnected and Intelligently Managed.
by Josh Davidson
As other project managers in the Program Executive Office, Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) develop ways to provide a single source of digital communication network capabilities to warfighters, the military’s provider of tactical electric power plans to follow a similar route with battlefield power.
The Department of Defense Project Manager, Mobile Electric Power (PM MEP), is developing a common power architecture so that any power source on the battlefield can be interconnected and intelligently managed with other power sources to efficiently meet demands for electric power on the tactical battlefield, said Paul Richard, deputy project manager.
Such a capability would also allow for the use of alternative energy systems such as wind, solar, hybrid electrics, fuel cells and batteries. The primary benefit, however, is that it will establish an architecture that will allow for interoperability between various sources of power on the battlefield and the systems that need power.
The architecture created could be applied for use from battalion level tactical operations centers up to large scale forward operating bases and installations, and would ensure interoperability between various power sources and power consumers.
“A common architecture for power will allow us to power the battlefield much more efficiently and effectively,” Richard said. “By establishing this capability we have the potential to significantly reduce the number of generators on the battlefield, the amount of fuel consumed to provide power, as well as all of the other logistics, such as trucks and support personnel, required to support power generation on the battlefield. This is the level of efficiency we need to get to with regards to power on the battlefield to further enhance the capability of our warfighters for the future.”
To combat stovepiping, PEO C3T is asking its personnel to think and work beyond their specific functional areas. Leaders say less stovepiping will reduce the creation of redundant systems and lessen the technology gaps among the many C4ISR systems.
The culture change calls for system developers to think about the capability they provide to a system of systems (SoS) rather than their own singular product. An SoS will reduce the number of servers in the field, thus requiring less field support each. This will save money for the taxpayers and provide warfighters with one seamless system used on a single server, much like what is used in an office environment.
Warfighters of the past were accustomed to accessing different systems on a variety of terminals. PM MEP’s efforts to establish a common architecture for battlefield electric power will provide similar benefits with respect to power on the battlefield. The process will increase capability, lessen the risk of power outages, reduce fuel consumption and shrink the logistics footprint of power on the battlefield.
“We’re evolving from old stovepipe solutions to intelligent solutions that will give the warfighters a lot more capability, but at a much smaller footprint and much smaller logistics burden,” Richard said.
POLICY SHIFT
In February, PM MEP briefed Lieutenant General N. Ross Thompson III, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), on the topic and its efforts to stand up an SoS integrator to oversee the Army’s entire power spectrum.
PM MEP’s recommendation included having two SoS integrators, a materiel developer SoS integrator and a combat developer SoS integrator for power to examine the entire power spectrum used across the Army to determine where collaborative efforts could be applied to greatly reduce the footprint of power on the battlefield, Richard said.
The combat developer integrator mission would be assigned to a TRADOC organization, which would have the authority to change the doctrine and policy that applies to how power is deployed to the battlefield. The materiel developer integrator would have the responsibility to influence the acquisition programs to develop and field the power systems needed to meet the user requirements.
The acting ASA(ALT) on May 22 signed a new policy memorandum, “U.S. Army Policy for Battlefield Electric Power Integration,” assigning PM MEP as the SoS integrator for battlefield electric power. TRADOC is in the process of determining which of its organizations is best suited to take on the role of the combat developer SoS integrator.
The ASA(ALT) policy memorandum requires all Army PEOs, program managers and project managers to identify and report to PM MEP all current and planned use of standard and nonstandard power producers and power consumers. The memo also assigns PM MEP the responsibility for maintaining databases of the Army’s power producing and consuming equipment, and to determine a common architecture for power that will allow for interoperability between the Army’s various power producers and consumers.
Other initiatives included establishing a general officer-level board of directors for power and standing up a product manager to develop a standardized family of batteries across the Army.
PM MEP’s present DoD charter, established 40 years ago, authorizes the office to standardize and manage power systems from 0.5 kilowatts to 750 kilowatts. However, power requirements across DoD have grown significantly over the past 40 years.
Requirements continue to grow below 0.5 kW for soldier-mounted systems, and beyond 750 kW for large systems to power forward operating bases or high-energy weapon systems, including those of the Missile Defense Agency, Richard said.
The policy memo removes PM MEP’s DoD charter limits for Army systems, and gives PM MEP authority to standardize power systems across the entire power spectrum for all Army weapon systems. As PM MEP fulfills this mission for the Army, officials are planning to approach the Office of the Secretary of Defense to revise its 40-year-old charter to expand their authority across the entire power spectrum for all of DoD to achieve similar efficiencies and cost savings across the entire department. This will also increase interoperability of power generation equipment across all services.
INTELLIGENT POWER
For nearly 40 years, PM MEP’s primary role has been providing generators and power generation sources. Requirements have grown for today’s warfighter, and many more power capabilities are needed aside from power generation and power distribution, Richard said. Power needs to be intelligently managed as a system on the battlefield, he said.
PM MEP is developing intelligent power systems that will let soldiers better utilize the power capability they are given, he explained, adding that intelligent power will also reduce the amount of power generating devices that are required in the field.
“PM MEP is pushing a strategy and initiative across the Army to go from just producing power sources to addressing power as a system of systems,” Richard said. “The old approach, where we provided power via a stovepiped manner, just doesn’t cut it anymore for today’s warfighter.”
The stovepiped manner, where different generators power each separate system, has led to inefficiency in power generation, which was the sole focal point in the past. Today, the Army needs to look at the power sources, the power consumers and determine how it can efficiently and cost-effectively distribute the power available to meet the warfighter’s needs, Richard said. This paradigm shift is necessary, he added, because the Army of the future will be “a much smaller, lighter and more mobile warfighting force.” ♦
