The first phase of the Fuel Cell for Soldier Systems project has been successfully completed, according to the European Defence Agency (EDA).

The FUSS project aims at the development of an enhanced soldier-sized fuel cell energy source. This project involves Hungary in a leading role, as a contributing Member-State, and Switzerland. 

The first phase of the collaborative research project “Fuel Cell for Soldier Systems” (FUSS) was successfully completed with the final meeting held this March at the Hungarian Research Centre for Natural Sciences in Budapest.

Also read: INTRACOM DEFENSE (IDE) | Presentation of Innovative Products with an interest for the National Guard of Cyprus at EUROSATORY 2022

In the first phase, executed by a consortium composed of the Hungarian Research Centre for Natural Sciences, as project leader, and Armasuisse’s industrial partner, the most promising source of energy and the best technology option for fuel cell have been identified, considering military requirements and safety limitations.

Although not essentially new on the market, existing designs of man-portable fuel cells still lack clear advantages in terms of weight and space-specific parameters compared to existing technology such as lithium-ion batteries.

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From a research perspective, different fuel cell technologies have the potential to change this situation based on different innovative solutions. In this context, during the first phase, different fuel cell technologies were assessed against specific military use cases and compared to the Lithium-Ion batteries’ performances, taking into account the typical soldier mission durations, energy, and power requirements as well as logistic implications.

Based on the recommendations provided in the first phase, a Research and Technology (R&T) demonstrator of fuel cell for soldier systems will be developed and tested in relevant environments in the following phase of the project.

In the following article, you can read more about the fuel cell technology delivered by the company ADVENT to the Special Forces of the Hellenic Army.

Also read: Advent Technologies | Portable Fuel Cell products for the Special Forces