Parametric Screening of Hybrid Powertrain Architectures for High-Energy Laser Vehicles: Application to Foxhound and Boxer

The US Army and several NATO allies have committed funds for directed energy weapons including high energy lasers (HEL), which require substantial electrical power. Silent Mobility and Silent Watch requirements mandate hybridization, which also provides the electrical capacity needed for a HEL.

This paper introduces a HEL framework of classes A-E based on target types and fluence physics. It estimates installed HEL mass and power demand by class, and applies rapid powertrain screening to hypothetical hybrid variants of the UK vehicles Foxhound and Boxer. Results show that HELs up to Class B (60 kW) and D (300 kW) laser output can be supported with minimal powertrain modifications by Foxhound and Boxer respectively, and upgrades to support Class C (150 kW) and E (500 kW) are containable within the payload of each vehicle. A rapid methodology is presented to determine what powertrain architecture is needed to support a given HEL.