The US Navy is currently in the process of developing a revolutionary all-electric warship that could potentially bring the Navy’s use of manpower and weapons to greater heights. The system architecture which is being designed by Cemal Basaran, the 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 other parts of the ship.
According to the Navy, at present, standard shipboard electrical systems are incapable of distributing electrical power to the entire ship. This makes it practically impossible to use advanced weapons and sensors that require a lot of power. Cemal Basaran was given a US$ 500,000 grant to design the next-generation of power electronics to make the US Navy more effective.
Basaran was also noted as saying that he planned on using both nano and microelectronics for the building of the next-generation of electric warship. He added that both technologies will be a critical component of the system. He explained that the current electronic packaging could not handle the huge electrical power needed by an electric ship’s warfare and civilian components in micron and nanoscale packages.
The warship’s integrated electric system will significantly reduce in size and electrical-power consumption that is currently seen in traditional Navy ships. By reducing the size of a ship’s power components, the Navy will be able to free up onboard space. This freed up space can then be used for other functions that can prove to be critical for the US Navy.
Via NextEnergyNews
