The Army Brief: Hybrid vehicles coming to the battlefield; Drone data in NVGs; Making intel feeds better; and more

Welcome to The Army Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the service’s future. 

It’s not a Prius. The U.S. Army is getting close to operating ground vehicles with hybrid electric engines, Defense One reports. For the military, hybrid and electric vehicles are not just about saving the planet, but also saving soldiers’ lives. They run quieter and emit less heat than ones running on a combustion engine, helping to conceal them from sensors on satellites, aircraft, and missiles. In fact, the personnel carrier that will replace the four-decade-old Bradley fighting vehicle will likely have a hybrid engine. 

Seeing what the troops see. L3Harris Technologies wants soldiers to be able to see drone video feeds on the company’s night vision goggles. The goggles are designed to fit over a soldier's helmet and give them key information, such as location and map data, thermal imaging, and rapid target acquisition or line of sight connected to a soldier’s weapon for accurate shooting, Defense One’s Lauren Williams reports. 

Making intel officers smarter.  The U.S. Army is testing a cloud-based data analytics platform that fuses all different types of intelligence feeds, both military and commercial, Defense One’s Lauren Williams reports. The platform recently completed testing with military intelligence battalions at Fort Gordon, in Georgia.

Pentagon to pay abortion travel fees. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the Defense Department will pay for troops and their family members to travel for abortions, Defense One’s Jennifer Hlad reports. It’s the latest move by defense officials to accommodate troops' access to reproductive healthcare following the Supreme Court repealing Roe v. Wade. 

Sign up to get The Army Brief every Friday morning from Defense One. This edition was written by Marcus Weisgerber; Caitlin M. Kenney is on vacation. On this day in 1917, soldiers from the 1st Division were the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I, in Sommervillier, France. 

From Defense One

Hybrid-Electric Troop Transports Are Moving Toward the Battlefield // Marcus Weisgerber

The quieter, cooler, less maintenance-intensive vehicles will make up at least part of the Army's future fleet.

L3Harris Wants To Add Drone Data Streams To Night Vision Goggles // Lauren C. Williams

Improving image quality and broadening the amount of data feeds available are priorities for future versions.

The U.S. Army Is Testing A Data Platform Just For Intel Officers // Lauren C. Williams

It's part of a larger effort to use commercial and cloud-based technologies to make the service more data centric.

U.S. Military Will Pay for Troops to Travel for Abortions // Jennifer Hlad

Post-Roe abortion restrictions are hurting recruiting and retention, defense officials say.