DRS completes DDG 51 hybrid electric drive motor
(21.10.2010) DRS Technologies, Inc., A Finmeccanica Company, announced the successful completion of assembly and component-level testing of its Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) permanent-magnet (PM) motor, a key element of a prototype Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) system for the U.S. Navy's DDG 51 Destroyer.
DRS is teamed with General Atomics (GA) to provide the proof-of-concept HED system under a contract awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in July of 2009.
Completion of the design, construction and testing of the HED PM motor at DRS Power Technologies' facilities in Fitchburg and Hudson, Massachusetts is a major milestone in the development of the prototype.
The DRS / GA HED system provides propulsion power at lower speeds by integrating the PM motor with the ship's main reduction gear. With this arrangement the ship can reduce the operating hours of its gas turbines, its primary power plant, and provide significant fuel savings. Each DDG 51 equipped with the HED system will be able to conserve thousands of barrels of fuel per year while increasing mission effectiveness and flexibility with longer on station times.
Recently the PM motor was delivered to DRS Power & Controls Technology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where it will be integrated and tested with the HED System Converter, also designed and built by DRS Technologies.
Integrated full-load testing of the system including control interfaces will be performed subsequently by General Atomics in Tupelo, Mississippi prior to delivery of the system to the Navy's Land Based Engineering Site (LBES) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
NAVSEA testing of the system at LBES is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2011 in preparation for installation of a proof-of-concept system on the USS Truxtun (DDG 103) for an "at-sea" demonstration in 2012.
Roger Sexauer, president of DRS' Power and Environmental Systems Group: "Our Hybrid Electric Drive is at the forefront of the Navy's current energy efficiency initiatives and provides dramatic fuel savings to the fleet. The successful completion of this motor is a major milestone for the program and the DRS/GA team."
"This system is truly a leap-ahead technology that offers significant energy savings for ship propulsion. We are confident in the technology and its ability to meet all design requirements" said R. Scott Forney, III, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Division Vice President.