The Army is working on establishing a new standard for connecting battlefield power systems to create expeditionary microgrids that are not reliant on specific vendors. Cory Goetz, technical management division chief for the Army’s Expeditionary and Sustainment Systems program manager’s office, mentioned the development of the Tactical Microgrid Standard (TMS) in partnership with industry, officially published in 2023.
The initiative is part of the Small Tactical Expeditionary Power (STEP) project, which aims to provide soldiers with small, hybrid systems for energy production and storage. The Army is also developing the Universal Power Gateway (UPG) capability based on TMS, allowing integration with various power sources into the Advanced Medium Mobile Power Source (AMMPS) generator.
The Army plans to field the STEP capability in fiscal year 2028, with the UPG initiative to follow a year later. The program office is engaging with industry through a user group to encourage adoption and advancement of the standard by relevant companies.
