OXFORD, England, November 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

There's good news coming down the track for UK soldiers as their haversacks will be much lighter due to new cutting edge battery technology.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has awarded a contract to OXIS Energy Ltd and LINCAD Ltd to develop rechargeable Polymer Lithium Sulfur batteries for UK forces that are significantly lighter and safer than the conventional Lithium Ion batteries that are in service.
Within this collaboration, OXIS will further develop its pioneering cell technology and LINCAD, along with OXIS will integrate these cells into the current in-service battery volume using LINCAD's military battery expertise to ensure that the final battery design is a safe and reliable replacement for the current in-service battery.

Lightening the load on soldiers is a priority for the UK MoD as each patrol soldier currently carries a burden of around 8kg in batteries alone.
Another major factor is safety.  The cells developed by OXIS can easily handle a wide variety of abuse conditions including extreme temperatures, short circuit and nail penetration. They have passed the test of bullet penetration.
OXIS Polymer Lithium Sulfur batteries are biodegradable.

OXIS CEO, Huw W. Hampson-Jones said, "OXIS Energy is thrilled that Dstl has chosen to work with us and Lincad to develop Polymer Lithium Sulfur batteries for the MoD. We are delighted that our technology will be used to make our soldiers safer and their jobs less difficult."

LINCAD Project Manager, Quintin Moore said "This is an exciting programme which brings together the major benefits of OXIS Energy cell technology with the proven Lincad expertise in producing high energy density military power solutions, to produce a power solution that is not only inherently safe but more significantly will reduce the soldier's burden."

Dstl

Dstl maximises the impact of science and technology (S&T) for the defence and security of the UK, supplying sensitive and specialist S&T services for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider government.

It starts from the presumption that work should be conducted by external suppliers unless there is a clear reason for it to be done or led by Dstl. At present, around sixty percent of the approximately £400 million MOD non-nuclear defence research programme, managed through Dstl goes to industry and academia to deliver.

OXIS ENERGY LIMITED
Huw W. Hampson-Jones, CEO    
+44(0)1865-407-017
huw@oxisenergy.com                  
http://www.oxisenergy.com

Lincad Ltd
Quintin Moore, Project Manager    
+44(0)1252-894600
quintin.moore@lincad.co.uk            
http://www.lincad.co.uk