Mobility and flexibility in mission fueling

Traditional fuel storage bladders are a common sight in forward-deployed locations, but today’s operation will be very different.

The need for speed, mobility and flexibility in fueling has come into focus. Modern, containerized fuel tanks are the preferred choice in emergency relief operations and NATO military deployments because they are plug and play. They need minimal preliminary work before installation and come onstream fast. But the DoD still relies on huge polypropylene bags which seem cost-effective as they are meant to be reusable. In practice that doesn’t and can’t happen – they are a single-use asset.

Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) need to be ready for action within 96-hours, and there’s a target for them to be self-sufficient for a full 7-days, up from the current three. This means fueling communications, heating and cooling, medical and food services – plus maintenance and repair as forward base support. Once operational, the forward base itself demands multiple fuels (kerosene, mogas, Avgas, Jet-A and JP8) to be ready for immediate supply and continuous mobility. ‘Forward base’ may conjure an image of a single installation. In reality, this will become a clustering model with Commanders selecting multiple specialist sites instead of a large fueling hub based around huge gas bags with their mazes of pumps and lines.

Our protection-proven fuel modules can be interconnected to supply an unlimited amount of fuel. The 5,000-gallon or 14,000-gallon units provide bulk fuel on a site footprint 50% smaller than conventional bladder tanks, whilst refueling multiple assets simultaneously. Being ISO containers they arrive via air, land or sea and are integrally double-walled requiring minimal site preparation We’re ready to provide you with total fuel surety across tomorrow’s operations.