Portable power? Soldier devices create voracious demand for better batteries.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: TACTICAL POWER

The old battlefield expression, "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition," may soon be "praise the Lord and pass the AA batteries." That is, if dismounted soldiers wired up with the latest electronic gear don't see improvements in power technology soon, Army officials are saying.

Night vision goggles, Sure Fire lights, global positioning system receivers and communication gear are a few of the 12 devices creating what some military officials are calling the "Christmas tree effect." Gadgets are hanging off infantrymen like ornaments.

"Just since the war started, soldier power requirements have just gone off the chart," said Jim Stone, deputy director of combat developments at the Army Infantry Center.

Dave Schimmel, a contractor who serves as hardware systems lead engineer at the Army soldier program executive office, said he is desperate to reduce the number, types and weight of batteries that the so-called "digital soldier" must lug while on patrol.

"We're continuously looking for more power sources," Schimmel said. "We're not tied to any one person, one company, one organization, one lab. We'll take from the Marine Corps. We'll take from the Air Force. We'll take from industry. It doesn't matter to us. We really don't care. We just want power sources."

The Army is signing up for new portable technologies without taking into consideration the battery factor, Stone said at an Institute for Defense and Government Advancement tactical power conference.

Stone is serving as chairman of the newly formed soldier power integrated concept team, which will attempt to get a handle on the problem. Small arms or tactical communications divisions, for example, are not coordinating on the battery issue.

"Vendors come to [us] and say 'I've got a flashlight that will send a beam 10 kilometers,' and my guys will sign up for it. We've got to get that under control," Stone said.

The power integrated concept team will act as a gatekeeper to harness the growing demands for power needed when soldiers are dismounted on brief patrols, or on extended missions that last several days.

Stone tossed out a couple statistics to show how acute the problem has become.

An infantry platoon of 40 soldiers on a 72-hour mission requires about 65 batteries per man. Outfitting a brigade on a five-day mission costs taxpayers $1.5 million in batteries.

For infantrymen loaded down with more than 100 pounds of gear, every ounce counts. Compounding the problem is a soldier's tendency...