The following is the Naval Power and Energy Systems Technology Development Roadmap, the Naval Sea Systems Command’s strategy to meet future weapon and sensor systems power requirements. The document was released June 26.
From the report
Today, the U.S. Navy is on the cusp of revolutionary changes in how warfare at sea is conducted. Akin to the shift from guns to missiles, this revolution will take the form of high-power pulsed mission systems. These include directed energy weapons such as lasers and stochastic electronic warfare systems, radiated energy systems such as the Air and Missile Defense Radar, and advances in kinetic energy weapons, including electro-magnetic railguns. Legacy power systems found on all existing ships do not possess the inherent electrical “inertia” to withstand the ramp-up/ down (on/off), or ripple (pulsation) effects of complex power profiles of these advanced mission systems. These effects include excessive generator heating (thermal stress) and negative torques (mechanical stress) applied to prime movers such as diesel and gas turbine engines. Countering these harmful effects requires mitigation such as advanced controls or energy storage.
This 2019 Naval Power and Energy Systems Technology Development Roadmap (NPES TDR) conveys the guide for an evolutionary strategy to meet the challenges of revolutionary weapon and sensor systems. The strategy, derived from the 2018 National Defense Strategy, is broken into two principal time horizons: 1) the current and building fleet and 2) the fleet to come, such as the Future Surface Combatant Force. For the current challenge, the concept of the Energy Magazine serving as the buffer between legacy MIL-STD-1399 AC interfaces and new highly dynamic, high-power DC mission systems is being refined. Developments in battery, flywheel, and capacitor technologies are informing next-generation energy storage systems and, when coupled with power electronics, will provide requisite power quality and the ability to continue fighting.
Integrated Power and Energy System (IPES) offers the potential to provide revolutionary warfighting capability at an affordable cost. IPES utilizes integrated energy storage and power along with advanced controls to provide a distribution bus suitable for servicing highly dynamic mission loads and propulsion demands while keeping the lights on. Additionally, such a system can enhance survivability, reliability, and flexibility while providing new capabilities such as the ability to quietly maneuver solely on energy storage. IPES development is currently focused on a medium voltage direct current (MVDC) system evolved from the DDG 1000 1kVDC Integrated-Fight-Through-Power system combined with shared and distributed energy storage as well as advanced controls with active state anticipation data linkage between machinery and combat systems. Near term Research and Development (R&D) is focusing on DC generation and distribution, while additional research continues to advance technologies across the breadth of AC and DC naval power systems. The current research target electric plant is centered on 12kVDC distribution and control system architecture with advanced power generation to produce DC at the source via variable speed dual wound/dual output generators using variable speed prime movers that can minimize fuel consumption and enhance time on station for a given fuel load out.
The Navy has embraced advanced modeling and simulation techniques currently being employed in power-hardware–in-the-loop (PHIL) component testing in a computer simulated environment, which promises to significantly reduce the cost of developing and testing full-scale hardware. The advent of real-time simulation of complex power systems has enabled rapid early prototyping of systems, and we are at the forefront of an explosive expansion of knowledge that has informed a comprehensive system engineering approach to developing both Energy Magazine and IPES.
The key to future success is continued close engagement between government, academia, and industry. The surface Navy electrical leap forward is truly a partnership between this iron triangle of expertise, transforming potential into reality through our joint efforts. The NPES TDR is our Guidebook.
Download the report here.
