The Army promotes standardization of Warfighter batteries to maximize system compatibility, interoperability, and safety during operational missions. For a battery to be considered as “standard” for Army operations, it must be able to meet requirements set forth in battery performance specifications (see Specifications). Battery performance specifications are documents that describe detailed electrical, physical, environmental and safety requirements that a battery must perform. MIL-PRF-32383 is the performance specification used to verify and validate rechargeable batteries. For non-rechargeable batteries, MIL-PRF-32271 is used.
Specifications cover a wide range range of battery requirements. Below is a small sample of topics covered.
Electrical
- Capacity Discharge – The amount of electricity that can be withdrawn from a battery.
- Cycle Life – The number of charge and discharge cycles that a battery can complete before losing performance.
Physical
- Dimensions – The measured length, width, height and/or other physical property that defines the size of a battery.
- Weight – The measured lightness or heaviness of a battery.
Environmental
- Mechanical Shock – The ability of a battery to withstand sudden disruptions without damage or decrease in performance degradation.
- Vibration – The ability of a battery to withstand frequent oscillations (continuous back-and-forth movement) without damage or decrease in performance degradation.
Safety
- Nail Penetration – The ability of a battery not to react violently when penetrated by sharp objects such as nails.
- Weapons Characterization – The ability of a battery not to react violently when penetrated by bullets or projectiles.
All performance requirements, as described in MIL-PRF-32383 and MIL-PRF-32271, are designed to enable the Army to produce standard batteries that are small, lightweight and can provide high energy safely for long periods of time under extreme environments.
Battery performance specifications can be accessed by going to Quick Search, https://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsSearch.aspx, and typing the specification into the Document ID field and clicking Search.