The AG9140 sets are powered by the 501-K34 gas turbine, which is derived from the T56 engine that powers the C130 Hercules transport aircraft, the workhorse of a number of the world’s armed forces. Earlier this year, Rolls-Royce secured the contract to supply new uprated Ship Service Gas Turbine Generator sets (SSGTG) for the Flight III variant of the class.
Delivering 4MW, the new AG9160 generator sets will provide the Flight III destroyers with more electrical power, feeding into a new electrical plant architecture to provide increased power to the radars and new high-efficiency air conditioning plants. It has been designed to meet DDG-51 MILSTD shock, noise and generator performance requirements.
To reduce risk, the AG9160 is based on existing proven technology, the RR4500 generator sets that provide a similar amount of power for the auxiliary and peaking power of the new all-electric DDG-1000 multi mission destroyers – the first, USS Zumwalt, was commissioned in 2016. But they retain the key attributes of the latest AG9140RF generator sets.
The AG9160 uses the reliable MT5S-HE+ gas turbine as the prime mover, and have the same footprint and are approximately the same weight as the lower powered AG9140 sets they will replace. This means no major ship design changes are required to accommodate them.