It will provide unlimited time in the air for UAVs: Raytheon is developing a wireless power transmission network
The American defense company RTX, also known as Raytheon, has begun developing a wireless power transmission network to power drones and ground facilities.
The news is published on the company’s website.
The US Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has engaged RTX to design and develop a wireless relay system for “delivering energy to conflict environments.”
The project is being developed as part of the Energy Web Dominance program, through which DARPA wants to be able to provide energy to systems anywhere without a direct physical connection.
Under the two-year, $10 million contract, Raytheon will create the POWER optical wireless energy relay system.
The POWER
The POWER energy transmission system will be based on a network of high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with a laser energy reception and transmission system.
The energy will be sent to a high altitude, from where it will be transmitted via repeaters to its destination. It can be a ground-based object or an autonomous aircraft that can stay in the air for an unlimited time thanks to power supply.
With the help of a large number of repeaters, the POWER system is supposed to create an “energy network” that military logisticians can use to direct energy to where it is needed most at any given time.
“It’s the Internet for energy, using resilient multi-path networks to transfer energy from surplus sources to consumers who are experiencing energy shortages. The military faces particularly acute energy challenges that are driving this innovation. We are often forced to operate far from established energy infrastructure and rely on liquid fuels that require unreliable supply lines,” says Colonel Paul Calhoun, POWER program manager for DARPA’s Tactical Technology Division.
Problems and disadvantages
According to the developers, the disadvantage of the promising development is a large energy loss associated with the relay method.
It is expected that about 20% will be spent on converting electricity into beam and another 50% on converting the beam back into electricity. Moreover, these losses will be repeated at each iteration of the transformation from repeater to repeater.
However, it is noted that the efficiency of energy transmission remains in the background among the development goals, taking into account the purpose of the future system.
The POWER system, in addition to powering unmanned platforms and systems cut off from the energy infrastructure, should also minimize the risks for military logisticians associated with the transportation of traditional explosive fossil fuels in the combat zone.
