Corps eyes hybrid Humvee

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By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer

With the price of gasoline averaging nearly $3.00 per gallon in the United States and auto manufacturers introducing fuel-efficient models to their fleet monthly, it seems like everyone’s getting on the energy-conservation band wagon — even the Marines.

The Corps is targeting more energy-efficient ways to power its next-generation Humvee, looking at hybrid/electric technology and fuel cell development to make up for ever-increasing energy costs.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle — a collaborative effort between the Army and Marine Corps to design and field a modern wheeled utility vehicle to replace the Humvee — is still years away, but today’s shortage of energy supplies is weighing heavily on designers.

“You’ve got to get a vehicle that can get more miles to the gallon,” said Col. Clarke Lethin, chief of the fires and maneuver office at Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., at the May 23 Institute for Defense and Government Advancement-sponsored “Military Armor Defense” conference in Washington, D.C.

“We’re looking at hybrid/electric or some version of hybrid/electric … [and] talking with industry to see if we’re ready to make that leap,” he said.

Hybrid/electric vehicles rely on a set of high capacity batteries and a standard gasoline engine, switching power between the two to minimize fuel consumption based on driving conditions.

Marine and Army officials aren’t settling on a fuel-savings solution yet, instead waiting to see what technologies are ready — or almost ready — to power their new jeep when it’s expected to be fielded around 2012.

The JLTV will incorporate the best force protection, mobility and communications technology available today, Marine officials say. Unlike the Humvee — which was designed primarily as a utility vehicle in the 1980s and upgraded over the years to be used as a tactical vehicle — the JLTV will be a combat vehicle from day one, sporting advanced armor, a bomb blast-shedding shape and increased crew capacity.

The hoped-for fuel efficiency won’t just save the Corps money, Lethin said, it could also help keep fewer Marines out of harm’s way.

A 10-to-20 percent fuel savings per vehicle may not sound like much, he explained, but “what does that count in convoys and tankers and everything that has to go with that?

“We’re trying to look at this not only as a piece of equipment, but how does it fit into our tactics, techniques and procedures and where can we also gain other benefits on the battlefield.”

Lethin said designers are also considering the addition of fuel cell-driven or other types of onboard power generators to keep the radios, roadside bomb jammers and other electronics going while the vehicle is stopped.

“If we build a vehicle running at idle that can export power … does that diminish the requirement to have generators on the battlefield?” he wondered.

Less gear in the field means fewer Marines in the field to run and maintain that equipment in the danger zone, he added, “giving us greater flexibility and freedom.”