Advanced Reserve Power Source Technologies

Power source performance in terms of power and energy density is the major objective with affordability, safety, and reliability secondary objectives of Air Force Armament Directorate programs for advanced reserve power sources for weapon systems. Secondary objectives are not distant relative to the major objective, but power and energy density is emphasized in order to enable new concepts and integration strategies. Current reserve thermally activated battery technology is at risk of becoming obsolete due to increasing specific power and specific energy requirements, while other battery technologies with similar or greater specific energy suffer from multiple failure modes, have limited storage life, or have not been tailored to meet the unique requirements for Air Force weapon programs. An advanced reserve power source lasting 20+ years without the need for maintenance or significant energy loss while in storage, is reliable, and is inherently safe, e.g. is not susceptible to thermal runaway, is required. Weapons typically have storage lifetimes of 20+ years; and must maintain reliable operation at any point within this time period without the power source being inadvertently activated. When the power source is activated, it must rise to full voltage within 600 ms and have an activated life of 5+ minutes. The power source must be able to survive shock, vibration, and temperatures (MIL-HDBK-310 1% Hot/ 1% Cold Days, worldwide) associated with external and internal carriage, high speed free flight, and storage environments. The power source will be required to provide power for weapon avionics, guidance, and ordnance initiation events for the entire flight profile. The load on the power source must be capable of periods of pulse power with an average 2.5 kW/kg minimum and a goal to exceed 5 kW/kg load over 60 seconds. The goal of this technology development is to design, develop, and test an advanced design for a power source capable of 20+ years of storage, 5+ minutes of activated life, with a specific energy at a minimum of 40 Wh/kg and a goal to exceed 100 Wh/kg. The power source must be inherently safe during its entire lifetime. Due to the safety issues associated with lithium battery technologies and the process to receive certification through the Naval Ordnance Security and Safety Activity (NOSSA) for use on an ordnance system, lithium battery technologies will need to demonstrate no venting under NAVSEA S9310-AQ-SAF-010 test conditions.

Objective

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

Develop and demonstrate advanced power source technologies capable of meeting weapon requirements with specific energy and power equal to or greater than current reserve battery technologies.

Phase I

As this is a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made as a result of this topic. To qualify for this D2P2 topic, Offerors must demonstrate completion of Phase I feasibility research and development that is not based upon or logically extend from any prior or ongoing federally funded SBIR or STTR work. Prior efforts used to demonstrate feasibility must identify candidate materials, technologies and designs including the rationale for being acceptable in addition to performance data.

Phase II

Conduct performance testing to establish design performance characteristics (Wh/kg, Wh/L, temperature range, power capability) and safety. Upon selection government provided data may be used to develop prototype designs. The deliverables for this phase consist of: 1) Prototype power source delivering 2.5 kW/kg for 60 seconds. 2) Performance characterization through testing to include captive carry and free flight shock and vibration : a. Wh/kg, b. Wh/L, c. power capability, d. temperature range, e. safety characterization.3) A manufacturing assessment of a concept design.

Phase III

Phase III will range from prototype testing and qualification to possible transition to a program of record. Must be able to support producing quantities in the 100-1000s. PEO Customers include AFLCMC/EB, Army PEO M&S TAGM, Navy PMA-242, and SOCOM.

Keywords: Weapons Power Source; Battery; Reserve Battery; Thermal Battery; Reserve Power Source; Electrochemical Power Source; Efficiency.

Technology areas: Air Platform, Battlespace, Materials

Focus areas: Advanced Materials, Emerging Threat Reduction, Hypersonics

ITAR: Applies

CMMC level: Level 2 (Self)