IWI Integrate a Battery in the Buttstock of M4 and AR-15 Rifles
By John Hill | Army Technology | November 11, 2025
As reported by Army Technology on November 11, 2025, BOOST - a stock-integrated power system for AR-15 and M4-pattern rifles, has been launched to address one of the most stubborn quiet problems of modern infantry combat: the proliferation of disposable batteries that today's electronics-heavy weapons require, and the weight, logistics, and reliability penalties that come with them.
The problem BOOST is built to solve has been growing in plain sight for the better part of a decade. A modern infantry rifle is no longer a single mechanical object but a small platform carrying multiple energy-hungry electronic systems: thermal sights, night-vision devices, laser designators, illuminated reticles, smart fire-control systems, and increasingly weapon-mounted sensors. Each component has historically been powered by its own cell, meaning every soldier in a unit carries - and is responsible for replacing, a fan of disposable batteries across a deployment. Target acquisition, as the European rifle maker Beretta Defence Technology has framed it, is the most vital component of modern marksmanship in a warfighting scenario; the irony has been that the systems that enable it can run dry mid-mission for the most prosaic of reasons. BOOST is a direct response to that gap, designed to extend a rifle's electronic runtime by a factor of three to five and to eliminate the need to carry separate cells across optics and ancillaries.
Mechanically, BOOST is delivered as a complete system kit rather than a single component. The buffer-tube energy assembly slots into the rifle's buttstock, with a harness cable running forward along the receiver and latched onto weapon-mounted accessories via dedicated connectors. The kit also includes a rechargeable spare battery, an AC charger, and a field charger that can be powered from radio handheld transceiver batteries or directly from ground vehicles accompanying a unit. The module itself houses a field-replaceable rechargeable lithium-ion battery, with a smaller internal backup pack behind it that takes over automatically if the primary cell is depleted - and the whole assembly adds less than 340 grams to the weapon while preserving natural handling, sight picture, and firing ergonomics. Installation is designed to be performed at the unit armory level rather than requiring a manufacturer technician, and the system requires no additional operator training or changes in field behaviour.
The analytical framing Army Technology adds is worth attention. The piece notes that although BOOST significantly extends operational runtime versus a conventional setup, it is not "self-sustaining" in the strictest sense - because the field charger ultimately draws power from radio batteries or vehicle systems, the rifle still depends on the broader unit's energy ecosystem, even if the individual dismounted soldier benefits from a longer autonomous window. The article also raises the electromagnetic-signature question that comes with any electronically powered weapon component: red-dot sights, illuminated scopes, laser designators, and smart-rifle systems all generate magnetic fields and emit electromagnetic radiation that adversaries with the right detection equipment can pick up. Neither of these caveats is a knock against BOOST specifically - they apply to the entire generation of electronics-augmented rifles now coming into service - but Army Technology's willingness to surface them gives the article a different texture from the press-release-driven coverage that has surrounded the launch. The piece also positions BOOST against parallel approaches to the same problem, including the US Army's conformal wearable battery that distributes lithium-ion cells across a soldier's ballistic vest rather than centralising them on the rifle.
Looking forward, the focus of tactical infantry modernisation, Army Technology concludes, is to maximise operational capability while reducing soldier load, and BOOST is one useful solution in that broader effort. As Ronen Hamudot, vice-chairman of SK Group, put it: "every gram matters, every second counts, and every watt of power can make the difference between mission success and failure." The next markers worth watching are how quickly BOOST moves from confirmed-in-use status to named procurements, and whether centralised, rifle-anchored power architectures or distributed, body-worn alternatives become the dominant model for the next-generation infantry kit.
To read the full article in Army Technology, click here.