Advanced Pressure-Tolerant UUV Batteries Safe for Fleet Use

Rechargeable lithium ion batteries offer large performance improvements in power and cost for many fleet systems, but safety requirements place significant limitations on the use of lithium ion batteries particularly large batteries. The proposed R&D will improve the safety to meet submarine and surface ship requirements and enhance performance of batteries for UUVs by advances in: pressure tolerant batteries, cell control, battery management, and cell chemistry and packaging. The work will result in automatic health and protection for the batteries during operation and in-place, wet recharging to improve UUV operations. Phoenix International, Inc. and Lithium Technology Corp. will build on their state-of-the-art pressure tolerant and lithium ion technologies to make this next generation UUV battery that will improve UUV operation and safety.