GE Aviation Receives U. S. Army Contract to Develop Silicon Carbide Power Electronics
The U.S. Army has extended a contract worth over 2 million dollars to GE Aviation today in anticipation of GE’s plans to develop and produce silicon carbide-based power electronics in support of the next generation of high-voltage, electrical power, ground vehicle architecture. President of Electrical Power Systems for GE Aviation, Vic Bonneau believes that the implementation of silicon carbide technology for high-voltage electric ground vehicles will facilitate vast improvements size, weight and power for all types of high temperature applications. With multiple silicon carbide based power conversion products in development and continuing investment into this field, the U.S. Army will be able to better manage on-board power and significantly simplify the vehicle cooling architecture with the ultimate goal of increasing mission capabilities for warfighters.
The 2-million-dollar contract consists of an 18-month development program aimed at demonstrating the benefits of GE’s Silicon Carbide MOSFET technology combined with Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices in a 15 kW, 28VDC/600VDC Bi-directional Converter. The contract is in direct support of the U.S. Army’s Tank Automotive Research for development of electrical power architecture leap-ahead technology. There is a scheduled technology demonstration in mid-2017. The DCS Corporation is the contracting agent for the U.S. Army on this project and specializes in advanced technological solutions all the while providing acquisition management expertise for the U.S. Army in regards to aviation, soldier/missile systems and ground vehicles. GE is the leading authority for silicon carbide MOSFET technology and holds a decided advantage across multiple industries with a core competency focus on aviation, energy and healthcare.