Joanna Crews
A business unit of General Atomics has secured a contract to design and build a permanent-magnet propulsion motor technology for large displacement unmanned undersea vehicles of the U.S. Navy.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will also test and deliver the motor under the contract from the Office of Naval Research, the company said Wednesday.
Rolf Ziesing, vice president of programs at GA-EMS, said the company has invested in efforts to research and develop electric power and energy technologies for multiple undersea vehicles and platforms.
He added the company aims to provide a second-generation propulsion motor for evaluation and on-vehicle testing by ONR after the company finished a review of the motor’s capacities including for undersea operations.
GA-EMS will carry out work in the next 18 to 20 months, followed by motor system characterization and test activities at the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory.
PSU-ARL helped examine the operational features of the motor’s design as part of an ONR-funded initiative.
