Use of the company’s controllable pitch propeller, designed and developed in Sweden at the company’s world leading Hydrodynamic Research Centre in Kristinehamn has also met the customer’s onerous and conflicting requirements for efficiency and underwater radiated noise.
But there is a further benefit to the MT30 Compact Package. It makes possible the choice of a simpler more cost effective Combined Diesel Electric and Gas (CODLOG) system. This in turn often allows the choice of a Low rather than High voltage electrical distribution system which is cheaper in terms of initial cost.
Crucially, the ‘Or’ system (CODLOG) can achieve top ship speed using only the GT, avoiding key dependencies on other system elements, and releasing 100% of the installed electrical power generating capacity to support ship service and weapons load demand, making the platform more adaptable in terms of its ability to accept incremental advanced weapons and sensors as they become available in future years.
That makes the MT30 Compact Package a “win-win,” according to Partridge “providing tangible benefits to a programme in terms of both the ship design and attendant capex and lifecycle costs and enhanced operational capability.
Orders for the MT30 Compact Package have been secured for both the UK Royal Navy’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme and the Italian Navy’s LHD. The MT30 Compact Package is also under consideration for many other programmes across the world including Canada, Japan, Finland and Australia.