Manufacturing Improvements for DLA Lithium Batteries

200-word technical abstract TAF proposes to substantially reduce manufacturing and acquisition costs of battery packs by developing clear, open, and vendor-agnostic specifications for the major components within each battery pack. The packs will be partitioned at the component level, i.e. Least Replaceable Units (LRUs), and aligned for maximum commonality across the current National Stock Numbers (NSNs). This increased commonality is a leap forward in battery manufacturing technology, allowing Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to deliver significant cost reductions for its battery acquisition program. The Open Standard will define specific interoperability parameters to allow any vendor to create a compatible battery pack component, but allow flexibility for innovative and cost saving solutions. It will allow DLA to source from a broader market of specialized manufacturers, use commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts to improve availability, expand manufacturer surge capability, and enable rapid integration of emerging commercial technologies at minimal cost. Modular battery packs will allow field replacement of componentssuch as individual cells, a common failure in recent contingency operationswithout shipping the entire battery unit back to the Continental United States (CONUS), and an entire replacement into theater. This greatly reduces the logistics burden and increases the availability of battery