Special Operations Command Orders Power Mgmt Devices From Ballard Subsidiary; Paul Osenar Comments

The U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded Ballard Power Systems’ Protonex subsidiary a potential $5.8 million contract to supply portable power management tools to Socom.

Socom expects Protonex to ship all SPM-622 squad power manager special operations kits in 2016 under the follow-on contract that the program executive office-soldier awarded through the Nett Warrior program, Ballard Power Systems said Wednesday.

This follow-on order comes five months after the U.S. Army awarded Protonex a $2.8 million contract to produce at least 400 SPM-622 kits for use by special operations forces in combat missions.

Paul Osenar, president of Protonex, said the company’s power management tools aims to support the U.S. military’s transition to the “digital battlefield.”

The SPM-622 system works to power portable radios, computers, GPS systems and other electronic devices that military personnel use in the battlefield.

Protonex’s engineering and operations team manufactures SPM-622 kits at its facility in Massachusetts.