Janes Naval and Defence News Briefs 3/3/04

[Guest]

Submarine concept pursues non-nuclear mobility
UK naval architects and engineering group BMT Defence Services has outlined a radical concept for a future non-nuclear submarine that would trade submerged stealth in-transit for the ability to sustain a long-range semi-submerged sprint into a distant theatre of operations.
[Jane's Defence Weekly - first posted to http://jdw.janes.com - 27 February 2004]

Italian surveillance vessel features innovative propulsion
The Italian Navy's new intelligence collection vessel Elettra, planned to be formally delivered in April, is equipped with an innovative propulsion technology. This has led Italian naval sources to describe it as the "first naval surface vessel to be powered by multi-electronic permanent magnet (MEP) drives".
[Jane's International Defense Review - first posted to http://idr.janes.com - 12 February 2004]

Norway receives mine reconnaissance system
The Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) is preparing to operationally deploy the HUGIN Mine Reconnaissance System (MRS) pilot capability after taking delivery of the new HUGIN 1000 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and Kongsberg Maritime.
[Jane's Defence Weekly - first posted to http://jdw.janes.com - 27 February 2004]

Submitted by:
Steve Reichmuth

[jim kerswell]

Further information about the "radical

[color=#000000]Further information about the "radical concept" submarine may be found here]http://www.bmtdsl.co.uk/pdfs/businessareas/ssgt2.pdf[/url]

This is an interesting idea with possibilities]

[anonymous]

Wow! Thank you Jim!

It will

Wow! Thank you Jim!

It will be interesting from our public view how this SSGT concept develops. The triangular hull cross section is a good compromise in total wetted area drag vs. surface running stability (rolling). Also perhaps beneficial from a stealth anti echoic stand point too? The necessary tall 'fin' looks a bit awkward. A bridge watch during high speed surface transit on this 'fin' would be interesting if not exhilarating! The Y stern implies digital, but with a not too complex manual back up. The stern control surfaces aft of the pump jet shroud would make maneuvering incredible to say the least. Question is would this shroud use pump jet geometry or Kort nozzle geometry or a combination of both? Silent submerged operation would be required, AND efficient surface running too. This goes back to earlier diesel submarine propellers that needed to be a compromise for both good surface running performance and operation at depth.

Such (PJ) shrouds on a 'conventionally powered' submarine in current thinking I thought would be concidered awkward, as the submarines source of submerged propulsion energy would be limited to fully exploit the PJ's higher silent speeds it offers. Difficult to state here 'fuel cells' as conventional. This may imply here too that fuel cells will soon in the near future (10-15 years?) offer longer underwater endurance AND at higher operational speeds ....not matching, but approaching current nuclear submarine performance?

Steve Reichmuth