With collaborative combat, on-board electronics [ou vétronique] will take up more and more space on board armored vehicles, as already shown by those of the SCORPION program [Synergie du contact renforcée par la polyvalence et l’infovalorisation] of the Army, are equipped.
However, the other side of the coin is that electrical energy needs are also greater. And that will make it an even more major issue as it is now a question of equipping these armored vehicles with powertrains in the future. [GMP] hybrids. Work in this direction is also underway for the VBMR [véhicule blindé multi-rôles] Griffon.
In addition, soldiers today being loaded with optronic equipment, such as those equipped with the FELIN system [Fantassin à équipements et liaisons intégrés]it is also necessary to ensure that they can recharge the batteries… Hence the “BALDUR” initiative, which the French company Nexter has just launched.
According to the explanations provided by the manufacturer, this is a strategy [dont le nom vient du dieu nordique de la Lumière] aimed at “controlling the energy on board the armored vehicles of tomorrow”, which will have even greater needs than at present.
According to Nexter, modern combat will require more “intelligent sensors to help decision-making and […] relieve the soldiers of certain tasks”… as well as by an even greater sharing of information. Also, “ensuring the power supply” to the vetronics will be “increasingly crucial in operation”.
Also, the manufacturer has set itself three objectives, namely “guarantee the secure power supply of critical vehicle equipment” while “strengthening the resilience of operational functions”, “reducing thermal, sound and electromagnetic signatures in the face of adverse sensors” and “diversifying on-board energy sources” while seeking, at the same time, to “control consumption”.
To achieve these objectives, Nexter argues that it has several advantages, starting with the experience acquired with the SCORPION program and the promotion of its know-how in “electrification and on-board energy” by the European program FAMOUS, launched to encourage the development of technological bricks intended for the next generation of armored vehicles.
However, the BALDUR strategy implies making an extra effort in terms of innovation. Its objectives, explains Nexter, “impose the development of new on-board energy management technologies”, such as the concept of “zonal architecture” on which its engineers are working. This is based on the idea of dividing the vétronok into different zones in order to “decentralize energy management and isolate a faulty part or even affected by a cyberattack to preserve the entire unaffected electronic system”.
Finally, Nexter says it is open to all technologies – civil – that have already been proven. Hence a partnership established with AKIRA Technologies to design a “soundproof auxiliary power unit [GAPI] » in order to meet the specifications of the General Directorate of Armaments [DGA].
Already, this GAPI, which works thanks to micro-turbines making it possible to significantly increase the operating time in “standby” mode, will notably equip the Serval and Griffon of the SCORPION program.
