Structural batteries could offer support to soldiers on front line

The so-called structural batteries are designed to lighten the load of soldiers carrying rucksacks, which can typically weigh more than 71kg and be filled with numerous electrical items, but have also been demonstrated in an electric racing car.

BAE Systems claims that the patented structural batteries store the electrical energy within the physical structure of devices and help to reduce or eliminate the need for traditional batteries, which create weight and bulk as well as the burden and cost of carrying spares.

The materials were designed to help create smaller, cheaper military platforms and equipment to meet future demands, said Stewart Penney, commercialisation manager at BAE’s Advanced Technology Centre.

’We’ve been looking at a range of technologies that would deliver multi-functional materials and this work has spun out of that,’ he told The Engineer.

’The reason for doing it is to basically improve the efficiency of platforms. If you look at some of the requirements for military platforms in 10, 15, 25 years, to deliver that type of capability you need to go about doing it in a slightly different way.’