At TEVCON in San Diego, our CEO & Founder Jake Hawksworth highlighted a growing challenge facing the defense industry:
The future of unmanned systems is not just a software problem. It is an energy problem.
As autonomous military systems become more advanced, the demand for tactical power generation and battlefield energy resilience is increasing rapidly. AI-enabled navigation, Counter-UAS systems, electronic warfare platforms, edge computing, and autonomous targeting systems all require significantly more onboard power than legacy military platforms were designed to support.
The defense industry has made major advances in autonomy and AI. But without scalable energy infrastructure at the tactical edge, even the most advanced unmanned systems face operational limits.
The Tactical Energy Challenge Facing Autonomous Systems
Modern unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and autonomous defense platforms are evolving into highly connected mobile systems capable of sensing, processing, communicating, and operating independently in contested environments.
That capability comes with a growing energy burden.
If a next-generation UGV requires a dedicated fuel convoy or a separate generator simply to sustain its onboard systems, the logistics challenge has not been solved, it has been shifted elsewhere on the battlefield.
This is the emerging reality of modern defense mobility and battlefield power generation:
Autonomy without energy resilience is not operational readiness.
The ability to generate, manage, and distribute power at the tactical edge is becoming just as important as autonomy itself.
Why Tactical Power Generation Matters
As the Pentagon pushes initiatives focused on “Energy Dominance” and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) accelerates adoption of autonomous military systems, energy resilience is becoming a strategic requirement across the defense sector.
The next generation of unmanned systems must be designed with integrated tactical energy systems capable of sustaining high-demand electronic operations without compromising mobility, survivability, or mission endurance.
Future-ready platforms will require several critical capabilities.
Mobile Tactical Power Infrastructure
Military vehicles can no longer function solely as transport platforms. They must also operate as mobile power infrastructure capable of exporting energy to support electronic warfare systems, Counter-UAS technologies, communications networks, and autonomous mission payloads in the field.
The future battlefield will increasingly depend on distributed tactical microgrids and exportable vehicle power systems that reduce reliance on vulnerable supply chains.
Hybrid-Electric Military Vehicles
Hybrid-electric military vehicles provide a critical balance between endurance, reliability, and operational flexibility.
By combining internal combustion systems with electric propulsion architectures, defense platforms can extend operational range while reducing thermal and acoustic signatures during sensitive missions. Hybrid-electric adaptability also improves onboard power availability for high-draw mission systems.
As battlefield electrification accelerates, hybrid-electric mobility will become a foundational capability for autonomous defense operations.
High-Torque Drivetrains for Extreme Terrain
Advanced tactical power systems cannot come at the expense of mobility.
Independent high-torque drivetrains will be essential for maintaining off-road performance and maneuverability while supporting heavier onboard energy systems and increasingly power-intensive defense payloads.
Future autonomous vehicles must deliver both sustained power generation and extreme terrain capability simultaneously.
Platforms Built for Sustained Electronic Warfare Operations
Modern warfare is becoming increasingly electronic.
Persistent sensing, AI-enabled targeting, electronic warfare, autonomous coordination, and edge computing all place continuous demands on onboard power systems. Future defense platforms must be engineered from the ground up to sustain these operations for extended durations in degraded or contested environments.
This shift will fundamentally reshape how autonomous military systems are designed, powered, and deployed.
Energy Innovation Is the Next Defense Advantage
For years, the defense industry has focused heavily on software, autonomy, and artificial intelligence. Those technologies remain essential, but software alone will not determine the future of unmanned warfare.
Software may get autonomous systems to the fight.
Energy innovation keeps them in the fight.
The companies that solve tactical energy resilience, battlefield power generation, and hybrid-electric defense mobility will define the next generation of autonomous military capability.