Will give up fuel and batteries: US Army will receive a wireless energy transmission system

Dzerillorers and other equipment want to charge a long distance so as not to give out positions by trucks. The US Army has concluded a contract with RTX (Raytheon) to develop a wireless energy transfer system to simplify logistics on the battlefield. This was reported on the official website of the developer. Wireless energy transmission reduces the need for fuel and battery delivery, helps the troops save time for logistics and do not give their location once again.

With this approach, the units do not need to create fuel formulations that the enemy can find and attack. RTX reported that its advanced technology group will develop advanced technologies of a wireless transmitter and energy receiver to provide a long distance demonstration according to the needs of the US Army manned and unmanned and unmanned systems. "Wireless transmission of energy and data can provide extended opportunities in the future manned and unmanned commanding space.

New Atlas noted that the army requires logistics chains that consist of a large number of people and material means to deliver everything they need to deliver the soldiers. This limits the speed of soldiers, because if they are too ahead of the supply lines, they risk staying without food, ammunition, medicines, and it is very important: fuel and energy sources.

Today, the average American soldier carries up to 64 kg of equipment on his back, and most of this weight is battery batteries to power its equipment. It is known that fighters do not like these heavy batteries and tend to "lose" them. The US Army wants to receive from Raytheon a system that creates bundles of high -energy coherent microwaves, which transmit from the protected generator to the leading positions, where they turn back into electricity. They should replace most of the supply lines.

The idea is not new, but so far wireless charging is only a short distance, for example, they are already charging smartphones and smart watches. RTX needs to present something that works even at a very long distance. This is based on the technology developed in Raytheon by William Brown in the 1950s, when he realized that microwaves could be used not only for radars and communication. With sufficient scaling, they could become a way of transmitting energy from one point to another.

Earlier, the company conducted several demonstrations, during one of them in 1975 it was possible to transfer 475 watts of microwave energy to a distance of mile (1. 6 km), and then convert it into an electricity of DC with 54%efficiency. At least one commercial system was developed in New Zealand as a way of transmitting electricity to remote settlements. The new Raytheon system is designed to make energy evenly available on the battlefield.

Although vehicles will still have to be refilled if they use internal combustion engines, energy transmitters will reduce the demand for them. In addition, the microwave can also be used as a safe communication channel. If you choose by choosing the right microwave, the beam will be safe for people or animals that can accidentally be on the way. Earlier, they wrote that the US is developing an energy delivery system with drones.