Case study: Electric countermeasure

Compact, efficient power solutions enable improved countermeasure capabilities

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Customer’s challenge

The electronic battlefield relies heavily on UAV-based electronic warfare systems to detect, assess and in some cases prohibit enemy threats. It is vitally important to keep these systems as small and undetectable as possible for survivability. Key goals were:

Establish a 270V bus on board as efficiently as possible
Compact power components
Enhance the agility of the UAV

The Vicor solution

Vicor patented, high-performance power modules provided the compact size, light weight and efficiency needed for the UAVs to stay in the air longer making them the perfect over watch sentinels. A lightweight, compact array of Vicor BCMs® provides high power to the 270V bus.

Key benefits

97.9% efficient power conversion to a 270V bus

Parallelable modules to attain the power levels necessary

High power density allows for flexible placement on board the UAV

Power delivery network

A stack of six BCM® converter modules with the outputs all in series provide 4,242V_DC isolation and exceptional efficiency of 97.9%. As is typical in any UAV, the space made available is limited and of irregular shape. The Vicor modular approach allows great flexibility in how to build a power delivery to fit within the platform.

MIL-COTS BCM bus converter modules

Isolated fixed-ratio

Input: 200 – 400V, 400 – 700V, 500 – 800V

Current: Up to 35A

Peak efficiency: 98%

As small as 1.28 x 0.86 x 0.26in

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