Uncle Sam's Battery Glossary

TLDR: A battery can be assembled in the United States and still contain foreign-controlled materials, technology, or components.

Defense battery procurement is not a geography quiz. It is a traceability exercise with acronyms.

Here are the terms standing between a technically good cell and a government purchase order.

FEOC (Foreign Entity of Concern): A statute-specific label for foreign companies, governments, or controlled entities considered a national-security risk. In batteries, FEOC rules can restrict ownership, licensed technology, materials, components, and suppliers tied to countries such as China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea.

NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act): The annual law that sets defense budget and policy. Each year gets its own edition (FY2026 means fiscal year 2026), and each edition carries its own procurement rules. So "NDAA-compliant" always begs two follow-up questions: which NDAA, and which section?

NDAA Section 842 FY2026: Requires covered DoD batteries and cells to be assembled by a non-FEOC entity, source more than 95% of the cost of their functional cell components from non-FEOC sources, and use no technology licensed from an FEOC. Requirements phase in from 2028 through 2031, subject to exceptions and waivers.

NDAA-Compliant: Industry shorthand meaning that a product and its supply chain satisfy the NDAA provisions and contract clauses applicable to a specific procurement. Under FY2026 Section 842, this includes sourcing more than 95% of functional-cell-component cost from non-FEOC sources. For batteries, proof may require traceability through cathode and anode materials, separators, foils, electrolyte salts, additives, ownership, and licensed technology.

DPA (Defense Production Act): Federal authority that allows the government to prioritize contracts and invest in domestic industrial capacity needed for national defense. DPA Title III is frequently used to establish, expand, or restore U.S. production of critical minerals, battery materials, cells, and other defense-critical technologies.

IBAS (Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment): A defense program that identifies supply-chain vulnerabilities and funds projects to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity, workforce, technology, and supplier resilience. Batteries and energy storage are among its defense-critical focus areas.

6T Battery: A standardized military-vehicle battery form factor, not a specific chemistry. Lithium-ion 6T batteries are nominal 24-volt systems used for vehicle starting, lighting, ignition, auxiliary power, and silent-watch operation under MIL-PRF-32565.

BB-2590: A standardized rechargeable military battery family widely used in portable radios, communications equipment, sensors, robots, and other Soldier-carried systems. Current variants include the sealed BB-2590B/U specified under MIL-PRF-32383/5.

SAE JA1016: An SAE recommended practice establishing reference geometries, performance-test procedures, and reporting formats for rechargeable pouch cells used in Group 1 small uncrewed aerial vehicles. Its goal is better cell comparison and interoperability across suppliers.

IEC 62133: An international safety standard for portable sealed rechargeable cells and batteries. IEC 62133-2 covers lithium systems under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse. It is a safety qualification, not proof that a cell meets military performance or environmental requirements.

MIL-STD-3078: An Army interface standard that tells equipment designers which common replaceable battery sizes and interfaces to use, so the military does not end up buying, stocking, charging, and replacing dozens of incompatible batteries.

Interoperability: Different batteries, chargers, and equipment can work together without special adapters, custom parts, or last-minute engineering.

C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance): The Army’s DEVCOM C5ISR Center evaluates, standardizes, develops, and integrates many of the batteries and power systems used in networked military equipment.

MPSC (Military Power Sources Consortium): An industry consortium connecting government, companies, and researchers working on domestic military energy generation, storage, manufacturing, maintenance, and supply-chain resilience.

OASW (Office of the Assistant Secretary of War): The abbreviation usually travels with a portfolio attached. In battery-manufacturing conversations it typically means OASW(IBP), the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, which works on domestic production and defense supply-chain resilience.

“Assembled in America” and “NDAA-compliant” are not synonyms. Final assembly is one box; upstream materials, technology rights, ownership, and traceability are the rest of the form.