FORT BENNING, Ga., (Feb. 25, 2015) -- The Soldiers in 1st Platoon were in trouble. Under constant attack for the last two days, and their supplies were low.
They faced a well-trained and determined enemy who had done their planning extremely well. Two weeks earlier, the enemy ambushed the resupply convoy with a remote IED.
Although the IED destroyed the majority of the batteries; the food and water had gotten through; and the platoon leader had taken steps to limit battery use until the next resupply convoy arrived.
However, this week the enemy took out the whole resupply convoy, and then had started their attack on the platoon's position. Now the platoon faced being low on food, water and ammo, and although their batteries had some power, none of them had enough juice to power a radio.
With no way to contact the company, their only hope was that when the resupply trucks did not return, the company headquarters would realize something was wrong.
1st Platoon manned a position overwatching a key pass into the valley.
Due to their distance from the company, the supply sergeant ran resupply convoys once a week, usually consisting of six vehicles, providing a week's worth of food, water, batteries and ammo.
Things had been quiet the first six weeks. But unknown to the platoon leader, or the company, the enemy had been tracking the resupply runs, and realized the platoon's dependence on being resupplied - especially with batteries to run all the communication and electronic equipment.
The enemy plan was simple - first deprive the platoon of one week's worth of batteries, and then, deprive them of the whole resupply run.
With the platoon out of batteries, it would keep them from using their unmanned aerial systems and some of their weapon systems, plus keep them from being able to radio for fire support or other organic support during combat operations.
This scenario reflects the small unit's increasing dependence on power and Fort Benning's Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate is working this challenge through the Small Unit Power Increment I Program of Record.
SUP will mitigate this dependence on power by pushing power generation and power management down to the lowest echelons at the tactical edge, said Maj. Jedidiah Zaffke, project officer for Squad Foundation of the Decisive Force.
"We want to provide a power generation capability at the Soldier, squad, and platoon level," he said.
For the Soldier, SUP will provide a kinetic or mechanical on-the-move power generation capability.
For the squad, SUP will provide a renewable energy capability, and for the platoon, a 1 kilowatt power generation source.
These capabilities will allow the small unit to provide part, if not all, of its own power demand, Zaffke said.
SUP Increment I also provides a squad power management capability that allows the squad to harvest energy from multiple sources to include partially drained batteries, and a universal battery charging capability that will allow the platoon to charge multiple types of batteries simultaneously.
"This allows small unit leaders to manage their own power resources," said Pat Berger, deputy TRADOC Capability Manager-Soldier.
This will provide small units with an organic capability to sustain tactical operations during extended mission durations while reducing the logistical power burden.
The goal of SUP is to allow the small unit to obtain Net Zero, the point at which the unit is generating and managing as much power as they are consuming.
"Small Unit Power is a combat enabler that will make Soldiers and small units more sustainable, mobile, and lethal," said retired Sgt. Maj. John Yancey, deputy branch chief, Soldier Systems Branch.
The Maneuver Center of Excellence will continue to attack this problem in SUP Increment II, which will continue to develop more efficient power consuming and power generating capabilities, and work to develop a wireless power transfer and charging capability.
"The ultimate goal being that by making systems more efficient and wireless, we will be able to reduce the weight of the Soldier's power load, making the small unit more 'Fast, Lethal, Smart and Precise,'' said Col. Daniel Goldthorpe, director of Soldier Division.
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