Toward battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell military vehicles for land, air, and sea

A long-term solution to the climate and air pollution crises facing the world today includes electrification of almost all energy and obtaining that electricity from clean, renewable sources. Whereas electric alternatives exist for nearly all energy sectors, they do not exist for long-distance, heavy passenger aircraft, freight locomotives, or ships. Of particular note, solutions do not currently exist for military combat vehicles, such as armored tanks, oceangoing vessels, and rotary-and fixed-wing aircraft. Some have claimed such transport cannot be transitioned. This study evaluates whether such land, air, and sea vehicles can be replaced with battery electric and/or hydrogen fuel cell equivalents while maintaining vehicle range, mass, volume, and power-or thrust-to-weight ratio characteristics, more parameters than previously evaluated. Here we show that armored tanks, freight trains, boats, oceangoing vessels, helicopters, prop planes, and jumbo jets have potential to transition using identified technological advancements and solutions suggested achievable within literature. Furthermore, we provide an example of the impact to sustainability by showing that transitioning energy for United States Army vehicles could have the equivalent environmental improvement of taking nearly 700,000 passenger cars off the road today. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

A long-term solution to climate and air pollution crises involves electrification of energy and obtaining clean electricity from renewable sources. However, there are currently no electric alternatives for long-distance, heavy passenger aircraft, freight locomotives, or ships. This study evaluates the feasibility of replacing these land, air, and sea vehicles with battery electric and/or hydrogen fuel cell equivalents while maintaining their characteristics. The research shows that armored tanks, freight trains, boats, helicopters, prop planes, and jumbo jets have potential for transition with identified technological advancements and solutions within literature.