News · Houghton
Michigan Tech’s Houghton lab wins an Army extension worth $16.9 million so far to build an on-board power kit for military trucks
HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Technological University’s Advanced Power Systems Research Center in Houghton has won an 18-month extension from the U.S. Army to keep developing a power kit that lets a military cargo truck make its own electricity, with $16.9 million exercised on the project so far, the university said.
The extension stretches the project, known as the Vehicle Integrated Power Kit, to three years and shifts its focus to getting the kit ready for full production, according to Michigan Tech. To do that, the lab, known as APS LABS, has teamed up with Oshkosh Defense, the Wisconsin company that builds the Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles A2, or FMTV A2, the trucks the kit is designed for.
What the kit does. The kit can generate up to 120 kilowatts of power at 600 volts of direct current, both Michigan Tech and Oshkosh said. It is meant to run power-hungry gear in the field without a separate towed generator: systems that counter enemy drones, directed-energy weapons, missile defense, command posts and field hospitals. It is built to the military’s Tactical Microgrid Standard so it can plug into other power systems.
“This extension is a significant milestone for APS LABS and our R&D, validating our groundbreaking efforts,” said Jeffrey D. Naber, the Michigan Tech energy systems professor leading the project. Pat Williams, chief programs officer at Oshkosh Defense, said the work is about adding capability to the FMTV A2 “in a way that aligns with the platform’s design and performance.”
What the federal record shows. We checked the award in federal contracting data compiled by HigherGov. The Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal first awarded Michigan Tech the agreement in March 2025 through a broad agency announcement, a competitive process. Since then, the ordering period has been pushed from March 2027 to March 24, 2028, and the ceiling has grown from about $7.8 million to about $25.7 million. The $16.9 million obligated so far matches the figure the university gave. The deal is an “other transaction” agreement for a prototype, a faster contracting route the Pentagon uses for new technology.
What happens next in Houghton. The team will finish and validate two prototypes for government testing and soldier evaluation, Michigan Tech said. Once those move to a test site, APS LABS will start building two more for continued testing and demonstrations while engineers finish the technical data package and tune the design so it can be built at scale. GS Engineering, Soli Consulting and LSA Solutions are also partners, and several Army program offices and the Defense Innovation Unit support the work.
Why it matters locally. APS LABS is an off-campus lab complex on the Houghton waterfront where university engineers, technicians and students test engines and powertrains, The Mining Gazette reported. The lab earlier delivered a prototype hybrid-electric Humvee to the Army and serves as the engineering services provider for the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti, the university said.
“This project, and others like it, are important for Michigan Tech and the State of Michigan to generate new technology and create new industries that build on Michigan’s strengths in manufacturing and defense,” said Andrew Barnard, Michigan Tech’s vice president for research.
The university did not say how many jobs the extension supports. For more from the Copper Country, see our Houghton page.
Sources:
Michigan Technological University, “Michigan Technological University’s APS LABS Partners with Oshkosh Defense to Advance Mobile Energy Generation Capability,” Oct. 14, 2026 (extension, $16.9 million, kit specs, quotes, next steps, partners), https://www.mtu.edu/news/2026/10/michigan-technological-universitys-aps-labs-partners-with-oshkosh-defense-to-advance-mobile-energy-generation-capability.html
Oshkosh Defense, “Oshkosh Defense Partners with Michigan Technological University’s APS LABS to Advance Mobile Energy Generation Capability,” Oct. 14, 2026, https://oshkoshdefense.com/oshkosh-defense-partners-with-michigan-technological-universitys-aps-labs-to-advance-mobile-energy-generation-capability/
HigherGov, federal award record W15QKN2599005, Michigan Technological University (award date, ceiling, obligations, ordering period), https://www.highergov.com/idv/W15QKN2599005/
The Mining Gazette, “MTU receives $16.9M Army contract,” Oct. 21, 2026 (APS LABS facility), https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2026/10/mtu-receives-16-9m-army-contract/
Photo: Oshkosh Defense, “FMTV A2.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FMTV_A2.jpg
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