
#61: ERDC collaboration with industry is accelerating operational energy capabilities
From Power of ERDC by U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
June 2, 2026 · 34 min
About this episode
This episode discusses how ERDC is collaborating with industry to enhance operational energy capabilities for military command and control units.
Modern military command and control units demand an unprecedented amount of power in the field, pushing traditional fuel resupply lines to their logistical limits and risking Warfighter lives. To confront this challenge, and overcome the risk to life and equipment, the Department of War and ERDC are accelerating the development of operational energy sources to ensure mission success and find significant cost savings. In this episode, Dr. Jess Lyons, a research scientist with the Operational Energy Team at ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, explains how ERDC is leveraging industry partnerships to rapidly develop, ruggedize, and field-test innovative operational energy systems that provide reliable power, cut fuel consumption and costs, and better serve our Armed Forces. Topics include a look at power demands for today’s command and control units (1:39); the real logistical, financial and human cost of current operational energy systems and resupply efforts (3:07); and an overview of the hybrid energy systems produced by industry partner LEMA currently being tested and deployed (10:03). We also discuss ERDC’s role in testing and ruggedizing these systems (14:41)…
People in this episode
Guest: Dr. Jess Lyons
Topics covered
- operational energy
- military logistics
- industry collaboration
- energy systems
- command and control units
- cost savings
Keywords
- operational energy
- military power demands
- fuel consumption
- energy systems
- logistical challenges
- cost savings
- industry partnerships
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Department of War, ERDC, LEMA
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