The team and I just got back from a fascinating two days at the AFA Warfare Symposium – the Air Force’s pre-eminent networking and professional development event in Aurora, Colorado.
A few takeaways from my time there:
It’s all about China
One theme was very clear to all who attended: China. The Air Force is ramping up operations in the South China Sea as an increasingly credible threat emerges. Alternative fuel sources will be critical in this operating theater, particularly as the Air Force diversifies away from its historic large-platform approach into asymmetric warfare.
Hydrogen needs span the full ecosystem
A number of decisionmakers stopped by our booth asking about our broader approach to hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure. For the Air Force, refueling is of course critical – and finding solutions that can create hydrogen fuel at scale for refueling needs on aircraft carriers will be key to finding more demand-side applications.
Pilot programs show promise and potential. forward.
We also were excited to hear more about the enthusiasm within the Air Force for the DLA’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell program, which is helping to achieve many aspects of the DoD’s current and future energy strategy. They are running a number of pilot programs to make hydrogen a viable future energy source, and in our conversations, it was evident that this is becoming tangible to the end user. Hearing more about the progress they’ve made gave us confidence in the work we’re doing to partner throughout the ecosystem as well.
Bentzion
