The U.S. Navy has awarded a potential $122 million agreement to conduct research, design, build and integrate propulsion load systems into the FFG 62 Land Based Engineering Site and DDG(X) Land Based Test Site.
The service branch said Wednesday the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division, or NSWCPD, awarded the agreement under the Maritime Sustainment Technology and Innovation Consortium — or MSTIC — other transaction authority.
“The program kicks off a multi-year effort at NSWCPD that will usher in the most technically capable and highly complex propulsion load systems with NSWCPD and our MSTIC team,” said Brandon Weiss, DDG 51 and future LBES branch head.
“The load machine concept applies torque and speed in the ahead and astern direction on a propulsion shaftline to mimic hydrodynamic loads on a shaft during propulsion testing. This novel approach is the only way to provide full-scale test capability for new ship class test site validation,” Weiss added.
According to Weiss, the use of the MSTIC model has helped determine gaps in technical specifications and leverage technologies across programs to develop a turnkey platform in a space-constrained environment.
The assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition approved the agreement, which has been the largest transaction awarded under the MSTIC OTA to date.
Alicia McPeters, NSWCPD technical liaison oversight branch agreements officer and branch head, led the project within the division’s contracts department.
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