Electrification is the future for defense vehicles

Despite infrastructure challenges, electrified and automated military vehicles will save fuel and lives, said Allison's VP of Defense Programs at SAE COMVEC 2022.

The M1 Abrams main battle tank developed for the U.S. Army in the late 1970s remains the best tank in the world, according to Allison Transmission's VP of Defense Programs, but it does have an Achilles' heel: It needs 0.7 gallons (2.65 L) of fuel to travel a mile. “You don't have to be an engineer to know that's a problem,” Dana J.H. Pittard said to a ballroom full of engineers during the opening keynote of the SAE COMVEC 2022 conference in Indianapolis.

Pittard is not an engineer, but his remarkable real-world experiences make him eminently qualified for his role at Allison. Before entering the commercial sector in 2015, he served in the United States Army as a major general and retired after 34 years of active duty - with assignments that included leading a tank company in Desert Storm and serving as military aide to the President of the United States and carrying the nuclear “football.” “My perspective really comes from being a former soldier,” he said. “I've seen firsthand what innovation means to soldiers like me and so many others. It helps to get the mission done and save people's lives.”