War is often viewed as a key driver of innovation. Recently, this has moved into the battery space, with batteries starting to play key roles in many military applications. Batteries are adding to the increasing importance of critical minerals in defence applications, on top of non-battery uses such as superalloys.

What has historic military demand for batteries looked like?

“Submarines have historically been a large end use market for batteries from a defence standpoint,” commented George Whitcombe, an analyst at Rho Motion. “Historically these were lead acid batteries but as the lithium ion battery market has grown, increasingly demand has shifted towards lithium ion” said Whitcombe.

Aside from this, battery usage has remained relatively limited. But now as technology plays an increasingly important role in defence, battery demand for military usage is expected to grow.

What will future demand look like?

Drones

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how important drones are in modern-day warfare, as unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UAVs) have seen widespread use for long-range combat scenarios. Additionally, smaller fibre optic and other first-person viewing drones have seen widespread use on the front line as both weapons and surveillance tools.

Depending on usage scenario this has led to the rise of non-rechargeable lithium ion batteries in drone usage, as well as conventional rechargeable batteries. After seeing how drones have been used in Ukraine, militaries around the world are committing to increased spending on combat drones.  

Electric Vehicles

Combat and logistical vehicles within militaries continue to use combustion engines as charging infrastructure is by far the largest limiting factor for these vehicles as well as concerns about increased weight. Whitcombe commented, “The US and UK militaries have both pushed the prospect of electrified combat vehicles far into the future but have highlighted the increasing role hybrid vehicles may play.” That considered, there are multiple companies developing electrified tactical vehicles.

Marine

In the marine setting, unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles are playing an increasing role as modern warfare becomes more automated. Although these platforms have been in use since the 1990s for surveillance and reconnaissance as well as direct operational tasks, the war in Ukraine has demonstrated how effectively they can be used. For these vehicles the lithium ion battery is fast becoming the preferred choice.

While the adoption of batteries and defence remains in its early stages it is clear that batteries, especially lithium ion, are set to play a critical role in defence strategies in militaries of the present and future.

To find out more about the role of critical minerals plays in defence see Benchmark Source’s recent Special Issue: Defence: The new driver for critical raw materials.

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