Army use of drones for air, land, and sea is booming—and so is the necessity to energy them. So the Pentagon is engaged on a method for the way it sources and buys batteries—together with the vital minerals they require—which officers count on to launch in 2026.
This technique shall be an replace to a lithium ion battery technique revealed in 2023 “that laid out the groundwork for the way we have been going to handle battery challenges within the division,” together with working with different authorities companies, allies and companions, Eric Shields, the senior battery advisor within the Pentagon’s industrial base coverage workplace, informed reporters Friday.
Congress mandated a department-wide battery technique within the 2025 annual protection coverage invoice. The purpose is to have the brand new technique signed by March 2026.
“What we all know is, particularly from the battlefield in Ukraine, that batteries are actually essential. They’re essential for enabling capabilities like drones, communications, and plenty of different issues that we have to struggle and win. It is essential for the division to have safe provide chains for these and…actually essential that we have now requirements, as a result of that is a method that we will sort out a few of these challenges,” Shields mentioned. “And you’ll see clearly in govt orders coming down on drone dominance and safety, you possibly can see steering coming down on the significance of vital minerals to the administration that these are priorities and are going to wish assets to make progress.”
The Pentagon’s reliance on vital minerals, together with these required for batteries, has lengthy been a priority, particularly as a result of a lot of the provision chain resides in China.
Almost 80 % of the Protection Division’s weapons programs depend on vital minerals, in line with a latest Govini report. And that demand is just growing because the White Home and Pentagon push new applied sciences, akin to drones, throughout all warfighting domains.
“We’d like these batteries yesterday. I want far more vitality and energy obtainable in all of my platforms than what I have been fielding up to now. And and the extra I can get on the market, the higher off we will be,” mentioned Daphne Fuentevilla, the Navy’s deputy director for operational vitality.
Friday, the Military, Navy, and Marine Corps hosted their first trade day for battery know-how, with a give attention to standardizing and bettering provide chains and stockpiles.
“This was actually the primary time we sat down and collectively hosted an occasion with a particular objective of bringing trade into the dialogue as an equal accomplice,” mentioned Marnie Bailey, the senior scientific technical supervisor for energy and vitality on the Military’s Command, Management, Communications, Computer systems, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Middle.
“Expertise is transferring quick. The Military is transferring quick, the Navy is transferring quick, DOD is transferring quick. And so this trade day was the start of this dialog, this open dialogue with trade, so we are able to transfer quick collectively.”
Standardizing batteries from all angles, together with cell materials and modular structure, is a major focus, since totally different platforms and gadgets have totally different batteries.
“One of many issues that that we’re wanting standardization for is: if we have now to interact in battle as we speak—and we’re not going to have a variety of time to do a variety of the assessments and and overview each single particular person piece of apparatus for the subsequent two years earlier than we subject one thing—we will be taking some danger. And the extra we are able to present this upfront steering on standardization, the higher off we will be once we do have to truly be in a battle,” Fuentevilla mentioned. “Areas the place we’re future standardization: the small UAS area, our undersea architectures…giant format batteries embedded into our ships, can be going to be a problem.”
Ensuring there’s a sturdy, safe, and home provide chain that may sustain with demand can be one other precedence.
“A few of this know-how evolution inside batteries has actually enabled us to get after extra succesful protection weapon programs and platforms. And we have now to have the ability to sustain with that with a purpose to tackle our mission,” Fuentevilla mentioned. “Particularly, we want batteries in our destroyers and frigates on the floor facet. I want extra succesful sensors and weapons on our floor platforms. I additionally want small unmanned aerial programs, and these one-way assault drones. As a result of for these programs particularly, the potential that I can ship is straight proportional to the quantity of vitality and battery vitality that I can placed on these programs.”
The Navy can be investing closely in uncrewed floor and undersea automobiles that require battery energy. And the Military and Marine Corps depend on battery-powered gear for cellular gear, aerial and floor automobiles—a problem the Protection Innovation Unit has been engaged on.
One key takeaway from the inaugural occasion was that firms need to know when and what the Pentagon needed to purchase. Shields mentioned the cash is there, however the necessities are nonetheless en route.
“With the numerous resourcing the division simply acquired via the one large, lovely invoice, a variety of these selections are nonetheless being made… stand by is type of the message, as a result of the necessities are coming, however we do not have them simply but.”
On Thursday, the Power Division proposed $1 billion in an effort to shore up the vital minerals provide chain. Earlier this yr, a White Home issued an govt order calling for a rise in vital minerals manufacturing, and the just lately handed finances reconciliation carves out $1 billion in appropriations for Protection Manufacturing Act, which has beforehand been used to supply vital minerals.
The invoice additionally consists of $2 billion to enhance vital minerals stockpiles and provide chains “via the Nationwide Protection Stockpile Transaction Fund” run by the Protection Logistics Company, plus $5 billion for “investments in vital minerals provide chains” for fiscal yr 2025.
