US Department of War holds Energy Innovation Expo; showcases latest power generation and transmission technologies

The US Department of War is looking to strengthen the energy systems powering everything from military bases at home to weapons and frontline units abroad, as it warns that vulnerabilities in domestic power grids could undermine American military operations even before forces reach the battlefield.

The department’s Energy Innovation Expo, which began today, is showcasing power generation and transmission technologies projects to support the rising needs of United States’ defence technologies as well as frontline combat systems.

According to the statement released by the organisation, the expo would showcase technologies that fill the gap between the electricity supply powering domestic US bases and the battery solutions and fuel systems powering their frontline combat units.


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“We built a firewall between installation energy — the power running our bases at home — and operational energy —- the fuel and the batteries powering our assets at the tactical edge. Today, that seam is completely gone; it’s blurred into irrelevance,” said Assistant US Defence Secretary for Energy, Installations and Environment Dale R Marks.

Marks underscored four key energy focus areas within the American defence department, which were: Golden Dome for America, nuclear energy, space and energy superiority, stated the release.

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Golden Dome

According to an earlier ET Online report, the Golden Dome project was designed to protect the US from threats such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and drones through a network of existing and next-generation systems integrated with artificial intelligence for real-time data sharing. The system’s key components are expected to be operational by 2028.

The Assistant Defence Secretary highlighted the Golden Dome’s high energy requirements and said the US War Department was looking into solutions for the project’s directed energy weapons systems.

“We’re rapidly innovating to reduce integration risks for high-power weapon systems and advanced sensors. And if we want to deploy directed energy systems, high-energy microwave and advanced radar systems, we must solve the energy equation,” he said.

Marks highlighted that directed energy systems, despite having low cost per shot and a large magazine depth, are energy intensive.

“Energy is the lifeblood of the entire Golden Dome kill chain,” he said.

"It goes from space-based early warning sensors to ground-based radar and kinetic and non-kinetic interceptors," he added.

In order to make Golden Dome a success, the War Department must meet the project’s energy requirement, stated the release.

The Assistant Secretary of Defence highlighted two programs —- US Army’s Tactical Microgrid Standard and the US Navy’s Common Operational Resilience and Energy Storage —- to meet the Golden Dome’s energy needs.

Nuclear Advancements

According to the statement, the department is pushing forward the development of tristructural isotropic particle fuel (TRISO) as a commercially available fuel for advanced reactors. The initiative would enable the US Army’s Janus program to deploy commercially available nuclear reactors at military bases and the Air Force's Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program (ANPI).

Marks said that the War Department aims to never depend on potential adversaries for nuclear fuel supply.

"We're ensuring that we never rely on a strategic competitor for our nuclear fuel," he said.

The release said DOW along with NASA invested in the Versatile Autonomous Kilowatt-Class Reactor Experiment (VALKRE) project.

The project, according to the statement, would advance kilowatt-class nuclear reactor energy for use on Earth and space.

Space

According to the release, Marks said the DOW is no longer treating space-based assets to be static and disposable, aiming to build a dynamic and maneuverable force.

It said the energy expo showcased two technologies to transmit power to and from space, which include the US Navy’s Assured Space Power Initiative and its limitless power from space exhibit.

"By transmitting energy [wirelessly] across vast distances from space to space, space to ground [and] ground to ground, we can resupply remote sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles and isolated units," Marks said in the press release.

Energy Superiority

According to the statement, Marks highlighted the need for energy-informed decision-making capabilities for commanders on the ground.

He emphasised on redundancy requirements, stating that tactical micro grids, vehicle-centric power systems and fast-forming microgrids can operate during supply chain disruptions.

He further said the War Department is pairing these microgrids with long-duration energy storage and ironclad cyber hardening.

The Assistant Secretary noted that America’s adversaries understood that they could win the fight if they crippled the domestic grids that power their control centers, logistics hubs and deployment platforms. He emphasised that the installations are warfighting platforms and needed similar treatment to prevent the country’s force projection to be compromised.