News

SatCon Delivers Power System for Combat Vehicle

September 24, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

SatCon Technology Corp. (Cambridge, MA) announced that it has delivered four digital power control and conversion systems that were installed and operationally tested in the new Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle (RST-V) being developed for the US Marine Corps.

The SatCon digital power conversion and control systems performed to specification and provided peak power of 80kW in an extremely small footprint of roughly 12in x 24in x 4in. The systems were developed under a contract previously awarded to SatCon. As a result of the testing, two additional power systems have been ordered and are due for delivery over the next few weeks.

The RST-V is a hybrid-electric vehicle that is light enough to be transported and dropped into place by a helicopter. It is designed to carry three or four marines over off-road conditions through either desert or mountainous terrain, near to or behind enemy lines. In order to avoid detection, the vehicle uses a hybrid-electric propulsion system to avoid sound and hot-exhaust signatures.

"Because of the nature of this new combat vehicle's mission, it has to be somewhat stealth," said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's president and CEO. "That means eliminating engine sounds and exhaust heat as well as designing other structural features into the vehicle. SatCon met the challenge of designing and developing a digital power conversion and control system that has to provide 80kW of peak power in a footprint that is extremely small and lightweight, while durable enough to withstand harsh operating conditions. We were very pleased to see that our digital power control and conversion systems performed well in the test of RST-V vehicles under off-road conditions."