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US Navy Developing All-Electric Warship
Posted by Sean Fallon at 12:30 AM on December 26, 2007
The U.S. Navy is in the process of developing a next-generation all-electric warship that could potentially "revolutionize the Navy's use of weaponry and manpower." The system architecture, designed by Cemal Basaran, director of the Electronic Packaging Laboratory at the University at Buffalo, will distribute electrical power generated by power plants and the mechanical propulsion system to all parts of the ship.
This will lead to increased computerisation of the warships operations—which means the crew can be significantly downsized from thousands to only 100 members. It will also lead to a reduction in the size of electrical components that will lay the foundation for more advanced weapon systems. The Navy hopes to have an operational ship kicking ass on the high seas by 2012. [UB via Dvorak]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
MichaelS
Posted 9:33 AM 25/12/07
Looks a little like the aft view of a Klingon D7 Class Battle Cruiser.
/nerd
MichaelS
MichaelS
lalahsghost
Posted 8:47 AM 25/12/07
Wow, I'll be excited to see a new class of ?warship? (So, I'm guessing not aircraft carrier <.<;;) My dad was on the eisenhower, the kitty hawk, the enterprise, for 16/23 of his career~
lalahsghost
HawkWolf
Posted 10:18 AM 25/12/07
That picture doesn't look so new. I've seen that design before... years and years ago, in a Popular Science. (well, okay, within the last decade or so.)
HawkWolf
pek
Posted 11:43 AM 25/12/07
2012?
oh my Scienze.... is it this that will end the world??
pek
irfan
Posted 11:34 AM 25/12/07
@fezir: i should have hit refresh before posting
irfan
irfan
Posted 11:34 AM 25/12/07
ya the pic looks familiar. i bet they stole the idea from "tomorrow never dies".
wouldnt a nuclear carrier or battleship be considered all electric as well?
irfan
fezir
Posted 11:23 AM 25/12/07
they definitely stole that ship from tomorrow never dies.
fezir
CaliforniaKid
Posted 1:29 PM 25/12/07
Maybe this article needs more explaination. Doesn't sound like anything ground breaking. Aren't many commercial ships already diesel / electric powered, like trains?
CaliforniaKid
perko
Posted 12:25 PM 25/12/07
@irfan: Nuclear submarines and battleships do not run off an electric motor - that would entail an extra energy conversion and a lot of wasted efficiency. The turbines are attached to the driveshafts that turn the propellers.
perko
akmed
Posted 2:02 PM 25/12/07
it has ONE, wait, scratch that, TWO weaknesses:
WATER and EMP!!
kinda cool but it would have so many problems.
akmed
Admiral Ackbar
Posted 6:26 PM 25/12/07
You mean like this ship:
[en.wikipedia.org]
Which has been in development since the '90s.
There is nothing new that I can see in this new ship. The innovation would be in shrinking those systems down in size.
Oh and the ship your thinking of in that picture is:
[en.wikipedia.org]
Admiral Ackbar
mullingitover
Posted 8:40 PM 25/12/07
Someone just needs to bust out a ship that generates its power from sea water. Win.
mullingitover
superbad
Posted 11:26 PM 25/12/07
@mullingitover: Yeah, and then they can come up with a plane that generates power from air.
superbad
shawn_dude
Posted 10:32 AM 26/12/07
@akmed: "TWO weaknesses: WATER and EMP!!"
Water is no more or less of an issue than it currently is. Subs and other war ships are loaded with high-tech gadgetry already.
Electro-magnetic pulse is no more or less of an issue than now, although I wouldn't be surprised to discover it was using fiber-optics rather than copper in some areas. EMP and water do nothing to fiber. Further, devices can be hardened against EMP through various low-tech means.
The point of the article appears to be one of technology automating some functionality currently monitored by humans and of miniaturization leading to a leaner, more advanced ship.
shawn_dude
Wwhat
Posted 10:27 AM 26/12/07
Nice flat surface for s2s missiles to hit, and seemingly no defences against anything since it lacks even a 'phalanx' or as much as a mounted gun.
Wwhat
m4ximusprim3
Posted 1:03 PM 26/12/07
@Wwhat: Right, but if you had seen the movie, you would know that that's a stealth ship and nobody can see it.
Jeez, pay attention next time Elliot Carver tries to teach you something.
m4ximusprim3
akmed
Posted 8:41 PM 26/12/07
@shawn_dude:
i was kinda joking. but thanks for the heads-up. at least somebody knows this technology.
akmed