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13 Jan 16. DRS delivers first HED system to Korean Navy’s FFX Batch II programme. DRS Technologies has delivered the first hybrid electric drive (HED) system, developed for the Republic of Korea Navy’s (ROK) new Incheon-class FFX Batch II programme.
Under the programme, around eight FFX II ships will be constructed, which are intended to replace an aging fleet of corvettes and frigates.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has designed and is involved in the construction of the first ship.
DRS Maritime and Combat Support Systems Group president Roger Sexauer said: “We are proud to have our efficient and powerful Hybrid Electric Drive system as part of the this programme to help ensure the success of the South Korean Navy’s new fleet of FFX II ships.
“This is the first of many of these remarkable systems we hope to provide to South Korea in support of their naval programmes.”
FFX Batch II will be installed with the HBD system for effective operation of the propulsion plant.
The system’s size, weight and power will help to produce more torque from the same amount of supplied current, compared to conventional electric motors. According to the company, its smaller footprint allows for more flexibility in engine room design and increased cargo space.
Under a teaming arrangement with Hyosung, DRS Power Technology designed and developed the HED system at its Fitchburg facility in Massachusetts, US. Hyosun is the prime contractor for the HED system to the shipbuilder, while the drives were designed and developed by DRS Power and Control Technologies at its facility in Milwaukee Wisconsin, US. (Source: naval-technology.com)
12 Jan 16. Surface Navy 2016: Declining budgets drive surface force focus on multi-use systems. Key Points:
• USN surface budgets have been reduced by 1-3% over the past five years
• With less money to spend, the navy is pushing for dual- and multi-use weapons and sensors
With US Navy (USN) surface force budgets declining by 1-3% in the past five years, navy planners are pushing to fit existing ships with multi-purpose weapons and sensors.
“When you can’t build more ships, you increase the capacity and capability of the weapons and [of] the ships that carry them,” Rear Admiral Peter Fanta, director of the navy’s surface warfare division (N96), said on 12 January at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium near Washington, DC. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 Jan 16. Palm-sized atomic clock could reduce reliance on GPS. Military researchers have launched several projects in recent years to find alternatives to GPS. With so many location and navigation systems—from those in smart phones to aircraft—dependent on the Global Positioning System, the military is concerned about the threat of GPS service being lost because of natural disaster or manmade attacks.
Efforts have included an Army project to use portable sensors to track soldiers’ movements that uses gyroscopes, accelerometers and a master clock to provide navigation and an anti-ship missile that doesn’t need GPS to zero-in on its target.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is now working on another tool—a next-generation palm-size atomic clock that would be 1,000 times more accurate than current models and provide the ultra-precise timing necessary to maintain position information in the event GPS goes out.
The agency is planning a proposer’s day for the project, called Atomic Clocks with Enhanced Stability, or ACES, on Feb. 1 at the DARPA Conference Center in Arlington, Va. DARPA is planning a three-phase program for ACES, with funding budgeted at $50m.
As DARPA points out in explaining the project, a GPS receiver’s accuracy degrades quickly one its satellite signal is lost. “Within 30 seconds of a GPS shut-down, a GPS receiver would only be able to specify that it was somewhere within an area t