Think about the last time your command needed mobile power in the field. This probably required the servicing, maintenance, dispatching, and recovery of an Advanced Medium Mobile Power Source (AMMPS) generator. The AMMPS generator in tow behind the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTVs) provided the unit with power for everything from tactical operations centers (TOCs) to radio battery charging stations and life-support systems.
Over time, both the AMMPS generator and the FMTV require additional maintenance due to regular operational use and the additional load burden of the pintle-mounted rolling stock. But what if there were a way to provide safe, reliable, advanced power for unit operations while reducing the demand of the tow-behind generator?
Two of the centers subordinate to the U.S. Army Futures Command’s (AFC’s) Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), namely, the Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) and the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center, have demonstrated advanced power through a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) called Secure Tactical Advanced Mobile Power, or STAMP. The STAMP JCTD showcased a highly mobile microgrid using a variant of FMTVs called the high-power variant (HPVFMTV), capable of exporting significantly more power than a single tow-behind generator. When employed in microgrid mode, two connected STAMP HPVFMTVs can produce roughly the power consumption of a maneuver division TOC by harnessing power directly from the powertrain of the FMTVs. The HPVFMTV microgrid requires no additional batteries, no energy storage capacitors, and no tow-behind generators, yet can replicate the power supply production of up to eight AMMPS generators.
The DEVCOM and Army sustainment teams involved in developing the STAMP capability and vehicle microgrid technologies proved the ability to provide power to the warfighter during multiple events. In August 2023, during the STAMP JCTD operational demonstration, Soldiers from the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas, provided power to both ground-based loads and simulated bed-based loads. Following four days of new equipment training, the unit demonstrated the flexibility and mobility of vehicle-based generation. “The JCTD demonstrated Soldiers could stop the vehicles, form a two-vehicle microgrid in roughly two-and-a-half minutes, then pack up the system and depart in less than 60 seconds,” stated Dean McGrew, the DEVCOM GVSC Powertrain Electrification branch chief, whose team supported the JCTD with vehicle systems integration and power systems development.
Following the STAMP JCTD operational demonstration, the STAMP HPVFMTV system participated in additional experimentation during AFC’s capstone event, Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PC C4), both at Camp Pendelton and the National Training Center (NTC). During PC C4, the vehicles provided operational power to multiple units in disbursed locations. Supported elements benefitted from the ability to rapidly reconfigure a tactical microgrid from two co-located STAMP HPVFMTVs or dispersed into two systems. The STAMP HPVFMTV vehicle microgrids provided power to several static displays and activities in two footprints about a half mile apart.
During experimentation at the NTC phase, the split STAMP HPVFMTV system simultaneously supported the TOC footprint of the 101st Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, and a Canadian Forces command post roughly a mile away. The STAMP HPVFMTV team recorded the ability to provide a foreign partner with advanced power distribution as a first for this system, despite some challenges. During pre-execution inspections, DEVCOM engineers identified and quickly resolved physical cabling mismatches between the two elements, enabling coalition power integration.
Advanced power distribution supports operational fuel savings through maximization of load sharing among power sources. Although a single vehicle alone does not reduce fuel consumption compared to a single generator, the advanced power distribution technology behind STAMP allows it to replace multiple standalone generators, consolidate demand, and reduce reliance on Class III (fuel) during operations. A single generator for a single load results in generator underuse and in the passage of unburned fuel to the exhaust system, or wet stacking conditions. The STAMP HPVFMTV leverages the advanced power distribution techniques used by microgrids to consolidate loads and increase fuel efficiency overall.
The experimentation at PC C4 proved these concepts, with data showing a nearly 50% reduction in fuel usage using the STAMP HPVFMTV in both standalone and microgrid modes, compared to between three and six underused standalone generator sets employed by the units. Tactical units integrating vehicle power sources into mission planning will realize higher fuel savings when compared to using tow-behind generators alone, especially where mobility plays a significant factor in mission success.
STAMP and the vehicle microgrid capabilities work by harnessing energy from the FMTV powertrain and distributing it through a universal power gateway (UPG) to the load that requires power. To harness this energy, technicians modify the transmission, which is currently the drop-in standard on the FMTV, on mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles and on Stryker vehicles, with a generator integrated in the bell housing unit. The transmission inline generator creates variable voltage and variable frequency alternating current (AC) power that is internally conditioned to distribute direct current (DC) power from the vehicle’s power distribution unit (PDU) to the DC microgrid or directly to the external UPG. STAMP’s advanced power distribution systems, the UPG, and the vehicle PDU, allow units using tactical microgrid technology to employ their organic power generation assets more efficiently.
The UPG serves as a bi-directional power converter that bridges DC to AC, providing both DC-to-AC and AC-to-DC conversion. Through the UPG, DC power can be used to power AC external loads that comply with the Tactical Microgrid Standard (TMS; MIL-STD-3071), or legacy AMMPS PDUs and Power Distribution Illumination System Electrical equipment. This technology allows the STAMP HPVFMTV to provide power to an external power load, such as a TOC or life-support equipment, at the point of need.
A driver of STAMP and vehicle microgrid technology is adherent to the vendor-agnostic TMS, which was published in January 2023. TMS specifies how power sources, distribution devices, loads, converters, and storage devices communicate with one another and how control protocols are established within a microgrid. At the most basic level, TMS enables plug-and-play microgrids to seamlessly integrate power generation sources, energy storage systems, feeder systems, distribution systems, control systems, loads, and power converters into a coordinated, resilient power network. This microgrid can be used in any application where there is a demand for mobile power.
The TMS also allows the microgrid operator to interface with the microgrid for health, status, and control requests via either a standalone dashboard or an application programming interface to a command-and-control information system. The TMS dashboard, developed by the DEVCOM C5ISR Center for the STAMP JCTD, gives the operator information, warnings, alarms, and system information from fuel levels to power usage. It also provides a means to control the microgrid and enables automated efficiency of multiple power sources. The TMS intelligent microgrid control supports reduced fuel consumption by automatically starting and stopping external power sources to adapt to ever-changing operational needs and by optimizing generator output for efficient fuel consumption.
The future of the STAMP HPVFMTV system, and of other highly mobile power generation and distribution technologies, relies on the continued experimentation, capability development, and ultimately, fielding of the UPG and other TMS-compliant equipment, where the need is the greatest. “Our power foundation for the future fight is spelled U-P-G,” said Michael Gonzalez, the branch chief of the DEVCOM C5ISR Center Expeditionary Power and Environmental Control Branch. Experimentation with the current STAMP HPVFMTV system will inform the development and planned transition to the Vehicle Integrated Power Kit, which will incorporate not only the technology to power external loads, but also advanced anti-idle technology, similar to auxiliary power in passenger vehicles.
Experimental data has already proved that consolidating loads and generators into smart microgrids will drastically reduce Class III consumption and generator maintenance hours. Future experimentation with advanced power systems will include vehicle-centric on-the-move power and anti-idle technology in operations at-the-halt. These technologies will eventually allow the commander to continue directing a dynamic fight from a mobile tactical command post without stopping to set up and maintain a tow-behind generator.
Additionally, as the Army reduces the presence of large, forward operating bases, which are easily targetable in conflict, the need for reliable power will remain a constant. Forward arming and refueling points, air defense sites, and forward logistics bases will still need TMS-enabled intelligent power systems provided by the STAMP HPVFMTV, UPG technology, and TMS-compliant emerging load capabilities. Leveraging advanced power distribution systems will reduce Class III consumption in contested logistics arenas, build decision space for commanders, and serve as a force multiplier during combined and joint operations.
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Marnie Bailey, Frank Bohn, Dean McGrew, Michael Gonzalez, and the entire STAMP team to this article.
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Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sean McClenachan is an all-source intelligence technician with the Army Futures Command’s Intelligence Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate. He previously served as a capabilities development fellow with the DEVCOM C5ISR Center. He holds a Master of Science degree in public administration from Villanova University.
Samuel Gwinn is an electrical engineer with the DEVCOM C5ISR Center. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University.
Joseph McFillin is an electrical engineer for the Power Division of the DEVCOM C5ISR Center. He holds a Master of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Delaware. He served in the III Marine Expeditionary Force in the Indo-Pacific.
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This article was published in the fall 2024 issue of Army Sustainment.
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