Too much gadget and not enough battery. It’s a problem any early adopter of a smartphone has faced (and, to some degree, is still facing) and can be a particular hassle when you’re traveling. Lots of gadgets means lots of charging cords or spare batteries. So imagine what it’s like for the average soldier who is routinely on the go and increasingly weighed down with gadgetry and power sources. It’s no wonder, then, that DARPA announced yesterday that it wants to deploy wireless charging hubs in the battlefield.

Specifically, DARPA wants a way for troops to be able to charge up their various gadgets--GPS units, voice and data comms, illumination devices, you name it--from a single, physically separated source that can charge several devices simultaneously. Spare batteries are simply too heavy (DARPA estimates troops lug five to ten pounds of battery weight around already) and the technology burden is only increasing as grunts grow more and more wired.