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Fuel cells promise significant advantages in terms of weight, coupled with cost and logistics benefits. Military applications for fuel cells vary but power and energy demands associated with the Objective Force and the Future Combat System requires a revolution in power. We have projected fuel cell missions for small man portable 1- 500 watt systems with 180 - 12,000 Watt-Hrs of stored energy to mobile auxiliary power units (APUs) in the 0.5 - 10 kW power range. Military power sources must be robust and capable of powering equipment under all environmental and operational conditions. Fuel cell power sources have been demonstrated for several military applications and are being investigated as possible power sources for the Soldier System, Robotics, Sensors and APUs. CECOM's Power Division's efforts have been focused on small battery replacement and hybrid fuel cell/battery systems.

This presentation includes results of fuel cell research activities sponsored by the US Army for the last several years. It outlines current efforts and future plans. Fuel cells promise significant advantages in terms of weight, coupled with cost and/or logistics benefits. Military applications for fuel cells vary. Missions analyzed to date range from small man portable units of the 1-500 Watts and 180 - 12,000 Watt-Hrs to mobile auxiliary power units (APUs) in the 0.5 - 10 kW power range. Military power source must be robust and capable of powering equipment under all environmental conditions. Fuel cell power sources have been demonstrated for several Military applications and are being investigated as a possible power source for the Soldier System, Robotics, Sensors and APUs. Much of the Army's efforts to date have focused on small battery replacement and hybrid fuel cell/battery systems.

This presentation includes results of fuel cell research activities sponsored by the US Army for the last three years. It outlines current efforts and future plans. The soldier’s increasing power demands dictate that alternatives to batteries be exploited wherever possible. Fuel cells promise significant advantages in terms of weight, coupled with cost and/or logistics benefits. Considerable progress has been made in reducing size and weight of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The supply of hydrogen to PEM fuel cells has been one of the key barriers to introducing fuel cells to the military. The discussion will focus on several approaches being pursued.