Power supply for the projectile-borne electromechanical system: A review

Abstract

Wide-area battlefields, smart ammunition, and precision damage are the new directions of modern warfare, while munition-borne electric systems serve as “decision-makers” for smart ammunition. As the primary energy supplier for the entire system, munition-borne power sources hold a veto power position. The complexity of the application environment for munition-borne power sources involves enduring high overloads, high centrifugal forces, ballistic aerothermal effects, variations in ballistic airflow fields, central blast impacts, complex disturbances in indefinite postures, and even the influence of complex ionized media. These factors represent weak links in research on the entire munition-borne electric system. Therefore, nations around the world attach great importance to developing munition-borne power sources and conducting research on various related aspects, such as technological innovation, digital simulation, and testing techniques. This paper elaborates on the existing technologies and scientific issues facing munition-borne power sources, comparing and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of liquid reserve batteries, solid-state thermoelectric batteries, and supercapacitors as energy sources for modern warfare systems. It also discusses current technological developments and future challenges. To address the insufficient environmental and spatial adaptability of munition-borne power sources, this paper proposes a design approach that couples excitation with integrated packaging. Specifically, although the diversity of ammunition platforms leads to differences in power source requirements, common problems faced by munition-borne electric systems in modern battlefield environments include extreme impact mechanics, low-temperature rapid activation requirements, and structural size limitations. This paper comprehensively discusses the extreme mechanical environments of ammunition platforms, failure mechanisms and protection methods under high-impact conditions for munition-borne power sources, low-temperature rapid activation, and miniaturization design and proposes protective design concepts such as elastic skeleton structures and high-pressure sealed secondary packaging. Additionally, these findings suggest the use of capillary microarray structures with electrode membranes to increase infiltration rates and further improve the activation rate of munition-borne power sources. Lastly, this paper outlines future directions for the development of munition-borne electrical system power sources, primarily from the perspectives of non-reserve primary batteries, non-bottle-breaking reserve batteries, new system batteries, and the advantages of battery-supercapacitor composite energy, providing a reference for the design of munition-borne electrical system power sources used in diversified weapon system platforms.