Jane Edwards
Cummins has teamed up with Achates Power to build and demonstrate an engine for the U.S. Army’s next-generation tactical and combat vehicles under a $47.4 million contract.
Cummins said Thursday it secured the contract from the National Advanced Mobility Consortium as part of the Advanced Combat Engine project that supports the Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center’s R&D efforts.
Cummins and Achates intend to increase the engine’s power density by at least 50 percent, reduce heat rejection by 21 percent and achieve a 13 percent reduction in fuel use in an effort to build up the ground combat vehicles’ performance and survivability.
Achates Power CEO David Johnson said the company will leverage its 14 years’ experience in opposed-piston engine development to help Cummins deliver a combat vehicle engine to the service branch.
A focus group at TARDEC plans to test and integrate ACE into a system of powertrain platforms in 2019.
