Vehicle auxiliary power units

What is a vehicle auxiliary power unit?

It is a compact power pack that runs the platform's electrics, hydraulics or pneumatics without turning the main engine over. On an armoured vehicle that matters because the alternative is idling a large diesel just to keep the radios and sights alive: loud, hot and thirsty. Our units cover 2 kW to 32.5 kW and deliver electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic output, with integrated starter-generators and welding-rectifier variants across the family. They are fitted to main battle tanks, infantry combat vehicles, mounted gun systems, missile handling systems and radar installations.

See: What the auxiliary power unit does

How much does a military APU cost?

We do not publish a price, and no serious vendor in this class does, because the number moves with output type, voltage fit, cooling, altitude rating and the platform it integrates into. Treat any figure you are shown as a quotation against your specification rather than a market rate. What we can put on the table early is the output band, 2 kW to 32.5 kW, the qualification set and the environmental envelope, so a briefing settles the fit questions before anyone talks money.

See: Request a capability brief

Silent watch power for a main battle tank

This is the case the auxiliary power unit was built for: keeping sights, radios and launchers powered while the main engine is off, so the crew holds position without the noise, heat and fuel burn of idling. The family runs from 2 kW to 32.5 kW with low noise and a low thermal signature, and includes an 11 kW dual-voltage unit rated at 16,000 ft for main battle tank application. We do not publish fuel-burn figures on the site, so ask for those against your platform in a briefing.

See: Silent auxiliary power for armoured platforms, Side-by-side with VINCORION and Kinetics

APU with hydraulic and electrical output on one unit

That is a configuration in the family rather than a special: the units are built as hybrid packs delivering electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic output, so a single pack can drive a hydraulic function and the vehicle electrics together. Electrical output spans 28 VDC to 330 VDC and 230/415 VAC, and there are integrated starter-generator variants and welding-rectifier variants with battery charging. The unit is configured to the platform, not chosen from a fixed catalogue line, so tell us the loads and we scope the output mix around them.

See: Output types and configurations

Auxiliary power unit rated for high altitude operations

Altitude is a design point here, not an afterthought. There are variants rated for operation at altitudes up to 5,500 m, and the family includes an 11 kW dual-voltage unit rated at 16,000 ft for main battle tank application. The units are built to a minus 40 C to plus 70 C design envelope with IP-65 and IP-67 sealing, so the same pack that holds output at altitude also copes with dust and temperature extremes. Give us the ceiling and climate for your route and we confirm the variant against it.

See: Environmental and altitude ratings

Does the APU meet MIL-STD-461 for electromagnetic compatibility?

Yes. The units are qualified against MIL-STD-461 C, E, F and G for EMI control, alongside MIL-STD-1275 for vehicle power, MIL-STD-704F and JSS 55555. That combination is what lets an auxiliary power unit sit next to sensitive receivers and radar without corrupting them, which is the whole point of powering a platform silently rather than idling the main engine. We can provide the compliance detail against your programme's standard set as part of the briefing rather than leaving it to a datasheet line.

See: Compliance and qualification, EMI standards, ours against the published field

Can an APU be retrofitted to vehicles already in service?

The units are configured to the platform rather than the platform to the unit, with output type, voltage and cooling scoped to fit, which is what makes a retrofit workable. Output classes run from 2 kW to 32.5 kW across electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic outputs, and integrated starter-generator variants exist where the fleet needs one. We do not publish an install kit or an integration timeline on the site, so bring the vehicle, its power architecture and its spare volume to a briefing and we scope the retrofit from there.

See: Configured to the platform

APU for a mounted gun system that also charges the batteries

That is a published variant: welding-rectifier units in the family provide DC rectified output with battery charging, so the same pack keeps the batteries topped and supports power-tool or welding modes in the field. Across the family the output band is 2 kW to 32.5 kW with electrical output from 28 VDC to 330 VDC and 230/415 VAC. Mounted gun systems are one of the fielded applications, alongside main battle tanks, infantry combat vehicles, missile handling systems and radar installations, so the fit is a scoped configuration rather than a new development.

See: Fielded applications and variants

Why fit an auxiliary power unit instead of just running the main engine during a static task?

Because the main engine is the wrong tool for a static electrical load. Running it to keep sights and radios alive is loud, hot and burns fuel the vehicle will want later, and it lifts the thermal signature at exactly the moment the crew wants to stay unseen. The auxiliary power unit carries that load at 2 kW to 32.5 kW with low noise and a low thermal signature, and the engine only turns when the vehicle moves. We do not publish comparative fuel figures on the site, so ask for those against your duty cycle in a briefing.

See: Silent power without running the main engine, Request a capability brief

How do we choose between electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic output for our platform's auxiliary power?

You choose on the loads, not the label. If the demand is sights, radios and battery charging, electrical output covers it, from 28 VDC to 330 VDC and 230/415 VAC across the family. If the platform actuates hydraulically or needs a pneumatic start or tool feed, hybrid packs deliver those outputs from the same unit. Because the units are configured to the platform rather than picked from a fixed line, the right answer is usually a mix scoped to your duty cycle. Bring the load list to a briefing and we size the output types against it.

See: Output types and configuration, How an engagement is structured

What qualification evidence can you show that the APU survives desert heat and mountain cold?

The units are built to a minus 40 C to plus 70 C design envelope with IP-65 and IP-67 sealing and are qualified for dusty conditions, so heat, cold and dust are design points rather than hopes. Altitude is covered too, with variants rated to 5,500 m and an 11 kW dual-voltage unit rated at 16,000 ft. On EMI and power quality the units meet MIL-STD-461 C, E, F and G, MIL-STD-1275, MIL-STD-704F and JSS 55555. We can walk the qualification set against your environmental specification line by line in a briefing.

See: Environmental envelope and compliance, Request a capability brief

Can we buy these auxiliary power units without a major-power export approval gate behind the sale?

The units come from an independent, non-aligned source with three decades of manufacturing behind them, so there is no major-power approval gate sitting between you and the supplier. That said, any transfer is subject to export controls and end-use approvals, and localisation arrangements are scoped per programme rather than promised in the abstract. What we will not do is claim you own the capability free of any conditions, because that would not be true of any real defence sale. The honest position is independent origin with the export and end-use terms stated up front.

See: Independent origin and support, How the supply conditions compare with the incumbents, How Unstrat structures a national requirement

Who keeps the auxiliary power units serviced once they are fielded across a mixed vehicle fleet?

Sustainment is held in region with one accountable team from the first briefing onwards, so a fleet that mixes main battle tanks, infantry combat vehicles and radar installations is supported through a single channel rather than several. The units are designed for low maintenance and ease of integration, which helps, but the part that matters over a decade is who answers when a pack fails on exercise. We do not publish a spares catalogue or turnaround times on the site, so pin those to your fleet size and dispersal in a briefing.

See: In-region sustainment, Request a capability brief

How does auxiliary power fit alongside the ground robots and sensors we are already looking at?

It sits underneath them. Silent, EMI-clean power is what keeps radios, sights and sensor payloads alive when the platform is static, and the same power discipline runs through the wider land catalogue, from unmanned ground vehicles to sensor fusion. We do not claim a pre-integrated bundle across those products, because inventing an integration claim would not help you, but the common thread is independent origin, one accountable team and in-region sustainment. Bring the whole shopping list to a briefing and we map where auxiliary power carries load and where it does not.

See: Unmanned ground vehicles, Battlefield sensor fusion

Is the auxiliary power unit a fielded product or still a development article?

It is fielded. The units are in service with national armed forces, and the family includes variants that are already qualified and running rather than presented at a trade fair, including the 11 kW dual-voltage unit rated at 16,000 ft for main battle tank application. That is the honest test to put to any supplier: not what the brochure promises but where the units are working today, in what climate, and who fixes them when one fails at two in the morning. We will answer that against your operating picture in a briefing.

See: In service with national armed forces, Request a capability brief

What are Vehicle auxiliary power units?

Vehicle auxiliary power units are Unstrat's Land (Land Domain) capability: A main battle tank that has to run its engine to keep the radios and sights alive is loud, hot and burning fuel it will want later. These auxiliary power units solve that: compact, ruggedised packs from 2 kW to 32.5 kW that deliver electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic power to tanks, infantry combat vehicles, mounted gun systems, missile handlers and radar installations, qualified to MIL-STD-461 and JSS 55555, with variants rated for operation at altitudes up to 5,500 metres. In service with national armed forces, and configurable to the platform, not the other way around.

How do Vehicle auxiliary power units work?

Vehicle auxiliary power units deliver their effect through output classes from 2 kW to 32.5 kW: hybrid hydraulic-electrical packs, multi-voltage electrical units (28 VDC to 330 VDC, 230/415 VAC), integrated starter-generators and welding-rectifier variants with battery charging, Fielded across main battle tanks, infantry combat vehicles, mounted gun systems, missile handling systems and radar installations, including an 11 kW dual-voltage unit rated at 16,000 ft for MBT application and Designed for extreme environments: −40 °C to +70 °C design envelope, IP-65/IP-67 sealing, dust-qualified, low noise and low thermal signature, capabilities matched to the requirement and confirmed under briefing rather than published.

Who makes Vehicle auxiliary power units?

Vehicle auxiliary power units are built by The Defence Power Group, whose focus is defence power systems & strategic cold chain. Unstrat represents The Defence Power Group to government and enterprise buyers worldwide as an independent, non-aligned prime vendor.

Why choose Vehicle auxiliary power units over a major-power alternative?

Vehicle auxiliary power units are sourced from an independent, non-aligned manufacturer, so they carry no major-power disclosure rules, upgrade-locks or political ramifications. Concretely: configured to the platform: electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic output, integrated starters, welding rectifiers, not a fixed catalogue unit. The capability is accountable to you, not to a foreign vendor's government and its release schedule.

How are Vehicle auxiliary power units procured, and where can it be exported?

Keep sights, radios and launchers powered without running the main engine: auxiliary power engineered for armoured platforms, from an independent source with three decades of manufacturing behind it. Every engagement begins with a briefing, and export eligibility is confirmed per market under briefing rather than published. Where controlled capabilities are involved, the classification and end-user-certificate chain is confirmed first. Vehicle auxiliary power units are then sustained in-region by one accountable team from briefing through long-term operation.