I never met my grandfather on my mother's side, but I grew up listening to stories from my grandmother about his service in WWII as a medic in Guadalcanal.

Because of these stories I've always had an interest in reading about veterans' firsthand recollections of war.

Most of the stories I've read focus on the action, and that loses me entirely. I've never been in a battle, and God willing I never will be, so it's nearly impossible for me to relate.

But one account from a soldier in Vietnam described the smells of battle, and those scents really struck a chord with me.

Aside from the aromas of cordite, burning flesh and scorched earth, the smell of diesel permeates everything in battle.

And it's no wonder why.

To fight a war, a massive quantity of fuel is needed, and our current engagement in the Middle East is no different.

According to the Defense Energy Support Center, the Defense Department consumed 132.7 million barrels of oil in 2005!

And the U.S. Army estimates that it needs to use 40 million gallons of fuel for every three weeks of combat in Iraq.

That's equal to the total amount of fuel used by the entire allied forces throughout all of WWI.

That kind of energy consumption cost the military $17 billion in 2006 alone.

Well aware of the mounting cost of this war that has no easy way out or end in sight, the military is realizing that sustainable energy is an absolute must.

General Nadeau has even said that "hybrid [technology] is an absolute necessity for Army transformation."

So in an effort to integrate hybrid technology into the military's long-term strategic plans, military officials are now looking at the Future Tactical Truck System (FTTS).

An FTTS is a large, heavy truck that incorporates a hybrid driveline to cut fuel consumption and increase range and towing capacity.

Currently the Army is testing the Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle (MSV) built by Armor Holdings.

The MSV's parallel hybrid powertrain uses an 8.8 liter Caterpillar C9 diesel engine, an Allison 7-speed automatic transmission and a 120 kW electric motor with a 336V Cobasys NiMH battery pack.

With that setup the MSV has an extended range of 600 to 900 miles--up from the standard 300 miles--depending on conditions. Not only is that a huge gain in efficiency but also a major tactical advantage.

This vehicle has already successfully completed 3,000 grueling miles of flogging at the Michigan Proving Grounds and the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds. With those accomplishments under its belt, the MSV is moving on to mission assignment simulations conducted at Ft. Lewis in Washington.

Of course it's no surprise to find that Armor Holdings is the military's top pick for spearheading the FTTS project.

Armor Holdings is a leading manufacturer and distributor of military vehicles, vehicle armor systems and life safety and survivability systems for the military, law enforcement, homeland security and commercial markets.

Even though they have built quite a reputation with the military--a reputation that has earned them multiple contracts totaling in $490.9 million in 2007--they needed some help from experts in the heavy hybrid vehicle markets.

And the company they turned to is UQM Technologies (UQM:AMEX)

For over 25 years UQM has specialized in applying electrical power to vehicles and has become the leader in developing high-performance, power-dense and energy-efficient electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers.

So what kind of money could UQM be looking at with this cooperative effort?

Well, back in 2006 Armor Holdings received a $649 million payment from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for production of an additional Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) trucks.

And taking into consideration that just the Army alone currently has 140,000 tactical wheeled vehicles that need to be replaced by more efficient hybrid models, some very big things could certainly be in order for UQM.

UQM also recently got a boost from the US Air Force after receiving another $1 million contract supplement to an existing contract to convert a conventional one-half ton pickup truck to all-electric operation.

That supplement increased the total contract value to $2.83 million.

As more develops on UQM, we'll keep you posted.

 
Field Palmer