Lithium Batteries for Strategic Missile Flight Testing

i. Many of today's modern strategic weapons rely on antiquated battery systems, many of which are more than 40 years old. Today's lithium battery technology could make a significant positive contribution to improving this situation. However, simply trying to use commercial cells and batteries for these applications will not be successful. ii. The cell chemistries used today for strategic weapons are difficult to work with, deplete valuable rare metals, and environmentally dangerous. Lithium cell chemistry on the other hand, uses robust manufacturing techniques, inexpensive materials, and is environmentally friendly. iii. This proposal identifies strategies to incorporate bipolar wafer cell technology into battery chemistries applicable to the strategic weapons platforms. Bipolar wafer cell technology will provide the packaging expertise to make lithium battery technology successful in strategic weapons applications. iv. The advantage of the bipolar lithium ion technology is the high specific energy and the capability of the design to be either rigid or conformable. v. The proposal outlines steps for research, development, testing and evaluation of primary and rechargeable lithium batteries during the initial phase. Because there are provisions for demonstration during the initial phase, the potential risk of unacceptable results during a second phase are mitigated.