The Evidence Ladder — What Each Standard Actually Qualifies
Most pack-level DVP rows cite a standard. Fewer establish that the standard was written for the application, the parameter class, or the operating profile the row claims to cover. This piece maps the evidence picture for eVTOL, drones/UAS, UUV/subsea, and humanoid robotics against a six-rung ladder running from transport eligibility through regulator acceptance. The primary output is what each cited standard does not establish. That finding carries the same structural weight as governed requirements, because the DVP row that unravels at qualification review is the one backed by a borrowed citation nobody scoped.
The Evidence Ladder — What Each Standard Actually Qualifies
Most pack-level DVP rows cite a standard. Fewer establish that the standard was written for the application, the parameter class, or the operating profile the row claims to cover. This piece maps the evidence picture for eVTOL, drones/UAS, UUV/subsea, and humanoid robotics against a six-rung ladder running from transport eligibility through regulator acceptance. The primary output is what each cited standard does not establish. That finding carries the same structural weight as governed requirements, because the DVP row that unravels at qualification review is the one backed by a borrowed citation nobody scoped.
UUV Gap Marker
ISO 20682:2026 — Autonomous Underwater Vehicles — Risk and Reliability
The freshest AUV domain standard actively bounded away from the battery interface. No ISO body claims UUV pack qualification scope as of February 2026.
Every pack-level pressure, thermal, and abuse parameter is DVP-governed. The DVP is the primary document, not gap-fill for an incomplete standard.
UUV Gap Marker
NAVSEA S9310-AQ-SAF-010 Rev 3 — Lithium Battery Safety Program (LBSP)
Lithium safety certification only. UUV pressure qualification is a parallel track governed entirely by program-level requirements, not LBSP.
No. The program DVP defines them, reinforcing the same program-filled gap seen in ISO 20682's exclusion.
UUV Gap Marker
ISO 21173:2019 — Hydrostatic Pressure Testing for Submersible Pressure Structures
That the housing holds pressure. Not that the battery pack inside it operates safely, thermally manages, or contains failure products at depth.
Enclosure proof-pressure testing, yes. But acceptance criteria for pack internals under sustained depth pressure remain entirely DVP-owned.
UUV Gap Marker
MIL-STD-810H Method 512.7 — Immersion Testing
Enclosure water ingress resistance. It says nothing about operational battery safety, thermal management, or abuse behavior at depth.
A DVP row citing MIL-STD-810H Method 512.7 for UUV battery qualification overstates the standard's governing scope by a wide margin.
Settled-Lane Contrast
MIL-PRF-32565 governs rechargeable sealed 6T lithium-ion batteries for ground vehicles. It is narrow, application-specific, and publicly accessible on DLA ASSIST (document date August 4, 2022; metadata updated July 1, 2026). Three battery types, explicit thresholds for capacity, cycle life, abuse tolerance, environmental survivability, BMS accuracy. A defined three-tier verification structure: qualification inspection, initial production inspection, periodic production inspection. QPL listing required before contract award.
By any reasonable measure, this is a settled qualification lane. It is also, by its own admission, incomplete.
The standard itself says so. Section 6.18: passing the Navy safety program tests within the specification "will not constitute a safety approval" for Navy vessels. Platform-and-NSN-specific authorization is a separate process. Section 6.11: transport compliance traces to UN 38.3 and 49 CFR 173.185, not to MIL-PRF-32565. And 10 USC 4865, effective for new programs January 1, 2028, requires functional cell component sourcing proof that the specification never contemplated. Cathode origin, anode origin, separator origin, technology license provenance, a >95% non-FEOC cost threshold. MIL-PRF-32565 Section 6.7 traces cells to manufacturer and lot code. It does not trace materials to geography or cost origin.
Any change in design, material, process, or facility triggers a new FAT. A sourcing change made to satisfy Section 4865 resets the qualification clock on MIL-PRF-32565. Two evidence requirements, coupled by a reset mechanism that neither document acknowledges.
A specification this well-scoped still knows where it ends. Most borrowed standards applied to adjacent domains do not. When your DVP cites a framework written for a different application, verify whether it carries the same explicit boundary markers. If it doesn't, your DVP owns the gap.
Source Documents
