Background and Summary
The discussion of electrification of military platforms in the United States has
long been framed as one of many measures necessary to mitigate the eects
of climate change and its deleterious security and defense impacts. This is a
constructive objective, but the motivation for electrification of the US Army’s
ground vehicle fleet should be viewed through a more expansive lens than
addressing the challenges of environmental strain and extreme weather.
Electrifying the army’s ground vehicle fleet over the next two-plus decades
will be crucial to gaining and sustaining advantage in a future fight in which
mobility, stealth, and endurance will be in even higher demand as will new
ways of powering the growing number of sensors and systems on which
military personnel will rely.
In February 2022, the army laid out its plan to transition most of its non-
tactical and tactical vehicles to hybrid over the next ten to fifteen years and
then, by 2050, to field purpose-built fully electric vehicles.
1
This transition will
begin with non-tactical vehicles (NTVs)—the trucks, cars, buses, vans, and
other vehicles used on military installations and for non-operational transport.
Much of this requirement can be addressed through the adoption of current
or imminent commercially available vehicles. Transitioning the army’s tactical
wheeled vehicle (TWV) fleet—these vehicles, which include ultralight, light,
medium, and heavy vehicles used to transport troops, equipment, water,
ammunition, and, to date, fuel, can also carry out reconnaissance and increase
mobility of troops—poses a more complicated challenge. Still, there is a
growing sense that development of commercial electrification technologies
is progressing to the degree that army’s electrification objectives are “pretty
darn achievable” and could even be accelerated.
2
From June through September 2022, Atlantic Council experts representing
the Global Energy Center and Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
conducted primary and secondary source research to better understand
1 US Army Public Aairs, “US Army Releases Its Climate Strategy,” US Army, February 8, 2022,
https://www.army.mil/article/253754/us_army_releases_its_climate_strategy.
2 Andrew Eversden, “Army Electric Vehicle Goals ‘Pretty Darn Achievable,’ but Challenges Remain,”
Breaking Defense, March 2, 2022, https://breakingdefense.com/2022/03/army-electric-vehicle-
goals-pretty-darn-achievable-but-challenges-remain/.
Power Projection:
Accelerating the Electrification of
US Military Ground Vehicles
ISSUE BRIEF
NOVEMBER 2022 REED BLAKEMORE AND TATE NURKIN
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