Calculating the impact of replacing legacy batteries with standardized lithium-ion versions in defense aircraft

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Defense may replace custom legacy batteries with standardized lithium-ion versions to modernize many systems including defense aircraft. Lithium-ion outcompetes legacy batteries such as lead-acid and nickel–cadmium in numerous metrics, and battery standardization simplifies supply chains and logistics and cuts cost by leveraging economies of scale. While many intuit that battery standardization using lithium-ion cells will reduce defense cost, few are able to quantify potential savings. Here, we present a method for creating battery standardization plans for defense aircraft and provide a techno-economic model to calculate the total capital cost associated with each plan. Using these tools, we find strategies that may save $92 M in capital cost, reduce supply-chain complexity by 72%, and cut carbon emissions by 75%. We notably show that different standardization plans can yield dramatically different total capital cost values.