LiquidPiston, Inc., has been selected for a U.S. Army SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) CATALYST Program Award to develop a Compact Mobile Command Post Auxiliary Power Unit (CMCP‑APU).
With the notification now received, LiquidPiston moves into a contracting phase that it expects to be completed later this year.
The Army SBIR CATALYST program was established in 2022 to unite the U.S. Army, integrators, and small businesses to create innovative technologies, propelling concepts to final transition and commercialization. The CATALYST program provides $1 million as a base award, with up to an additional $7 million in SBIR funding via matching grants, to small businesses and industry partners that work with the U.S. Army in support of modernization efforts.
The LiquidPiston award notification is for an CMCP-APU to support the U.S. Army’s Mobile And Survivable Command Post (MASCP) initiative under the Army’s Command Post Integrated Infrastructure (CPI2) development program. MASCP aims to address critical vulnerabilities in today’s command posts, which take time to set up and take down, have rather fixed locations once set up, and are easily detectable by peer competitors.
Because military diesel generators are notoriously large and heavy, often requiring a trailer, CPI2 identified integrated power (IP) solutions for onboard power generation as a key enabling technology required for a viable mobile command post. Such IP systems would require power-dense auxiliary power units that are integrated with mobile command post vehicles to support communications, surveillance, and tactical support systems.
LiquidPiston’s SBIR CATALYST application addresses this need with a proposed ultra-compact, vehicle-based 10 kW portable electric generator platform powered by the company’s basketball-sized 25 hp heavy-fuel-capable X-Engine™.
This SBIR CATALYST proposal represents an application-focused solution that builds on LiquidPiston’s recent U.S. Department of Defense contracts, including a $9 million DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory award for a Compact Efficient Rotary Engine, announced in November 2022, an $8.3 million award from DEVCOM C5ISR Center for the development of a Light Weight High Efficiency Generator, announced in July 2023, and a $35M U.S. Air Force STRATFI SBIR contract for Hybrid Power System Technology.
Alec Shkolnik, co-founder and CEO of LiquidPiston, said; “Being selected for an SBIR CATALYST Program award is another exciting milestone for LiquidPiston. We are proud to have this opportunity to provide an integrated power solution for the MASCP program, allowing for an easily deployable mobile command post that can help our warfighters execute their missions as effectively and safely as possible.”
