Protonex Awarded $3.65 Million to Continue Development of Pulse M250 Military Power System

Protonex Technology today announced that it has received a US$3.65 million contract with the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) to  develop the next generation of its Pulse M250 military  power system.  Protonex will continue its partnership with Raytheon for testing and optimisation of this product, focused on the military's standards for performance and safety.

This new program, funded jointly by the OSD, ARO and the Army's Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC), follows successful completion of a previously awarded US$3.5 million contract for initial development of the Pulse M250 system.  Consistent with the terms of the initial program, announced in February 2007, Protonex recently delivered ten units to the Army and other military end users for testing. 

Raytheon's work on this first program included evaluation of the system's performance under shock, vibration and impact environments.  Raytheon will continue to add significant value to advanced development, optimisation and testing of the system under this next program.

Pulse M250 is a 250-watt power system that is designed for a diverse set of portable military applications, including field battery charging, auxiliary power units and portable power generation.  The system operates on liquid methanol fuel.

Source: Fuel Cell Today