At the recent Association of the United States Army (AUSA) defense expo in Washington, DC, several light tactical vehicles carried payloads. The key question to consider is where does the energy to power them come from? Zona Military spoke with representatives from defense companies who are deeply invested in and well-versed in this field.
A wide range of payloads can be installed aboard light, tactical vehicles. These include remote weapons systems, electronic warfare systems, launchers for drones and tethered drones, counter-drone technology (kinetic and non-kinetic), command and communications systems, and radars & sensors for intelligence, surveillance, & reconnaissance missions.
The AUSA expo featured several light, tactical vehicles carrying these types of payloads. GM-Defense, for example, displayed its family of infantry squad vehicles (ISV) with different payloads. The ISV-Utility had the counter-drone Vampire developed by L3Harris; another ISV-Utility had the Black Recon Modular Mission Payload developed by Teledyne FLIR Defense. Polaris, producer of the MRZR Alpha and MRZR Diesel families of vehicles, regularly showcases different payloads on board.
One notable development is that vehicle manufacturers are now developing variants with power-export capabilities. For example, at the Modern Day Marine 2025 defense expo (which also takes place in Washington, DC), Polaris announced that production has commenced on its MRZR Alpha baseline with 1 kilowatt of exportable power. The company has also developed a similar version with five kilowatts of exportable power.
John LaFata, engineering manager at Polaris Government and Defense, told Zona Militar, “all MRZR Alpha light tactical vehicles coming off our production line now provide 1kW of exportable power at 24V standard, an effort we began in Q2 of this year.” LaFata also confirmed “we have received orders and have begun delivering” to United States and international military customers. As for the 5kW variant, “the MRZR Alpha with 5kW exportable power is also in production, and that started in Q3,” the executive told ZM.
The 5kW variant supports more “power-hungry systems,” such as communications, network, and air defense systems, or powers external loads like a forward-operating tactical grid. Examples include Network on the Move (NOTM) and Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS), LaFata told ZM.
Similarly, at AUSA, GM Defense displayed its ISV-Utility with mission power, a vehicle that, according to the company, “provides power production, storage, and distribution when needed.” The company has also developed an Electric Military Concept Vehicle (eISV) based on the ISV-9. This version has “abundant stored and exportable power generation for integrated mission packages.”
As for the developers of the payloads to be installed on these vehicles, they are also aware of power consumption issues. Bob Herman, Sr. Director at Teledyne FLIR Defense’s Customer R&D Programs, told Zona Militar, “we have integrated the NBCRV Sensor Suite Upgrade Modular Mission Package onto multiple vehicle platforms, including the Stryker and various Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles.” He noted that “while each vehicle platform is different, our system designs are modular to allow the capabilities to be tailored for both the mission requirements as well as the platform constraints.”
“As part of our engineering, we define different modes of operation that enable different capabilities at different times to ensure we stay below the power limits of the vehicle,” the executive at Teledyne Flir Defense concluded.
Other companies focus on developing battery management tools for vehicles like those mentioned in this analysis to support power management in contested environments. For example, Black Knight Group is the US representative for the company SFC, which manufactures the EMILY 3000 fuel cell.
Black Knight Group CEO Duncan Baillie explained to Zona Militar that the EMILY 3000 is already “in service across several European countries, as well as India, and has been fielded with UK forces for nearly 10 years.”
While the US military has not yet acquired the EMILY 3000, it may in the future. Adding new, energy-hungry payloads to vehicles like the MRZR, ISV, or Humvee will require additional exportable energy options. Baillie noted that EMILY 3000 provides “virtually silent performance, producing minimal acoustic and thermal signatures – making it exceptionally well-suited for covert operations,” Baillie noted. The EMILY 3000 weighs around 12 kilograms and helps power output on lightweight tactical vehicles without compromising mobility.
The system has already been displayed aboard the Polaris MRZR D and MRZR Alpha tactical vehicles. At the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week expo earlier this year, SFC and Polaris announced a partnership to include the EMILY 3000 power management tool as an accessory for the MRZR D tactical vehicle.
Adding power-hungry payloads to light, tactical vehicles will require exportable energy and power management tools —a market of its own that deserves more coverage as warfare evolves.
You may also like: With its new MRGG-A rifle for USSOCOM, LMT Defense aims to expand its presence among special operations units in Latin America
