After almost ten years of development and testing, the US Navy appears to be on track to abandon the Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) program that aimed to slash fuel consumption on its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
In 2009, the Secretary of the Navy set goals to reduce fuel consumption and, 2 years later, initiated a program to install Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) systems on its fleet of Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51 Flight IIA) destroyers.
The HED system draws surplus power from the ship’s electric system and uses it to propel the ship. This allows the crew to turn off the propulsion engines and save fuel.
However, A US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says navy officials had informed GAO and Congress that they plan to suspend the HED program.
The program is being suspended despite $35 million in funding appropriated by Congress for the program in 2020, which was available to support ship installation of the five previously purchased HEDs. The Navy stated that it can only use a small portion of this funding before it expires in September 2022 since the systems cannot be upgraded and incorporated into a ship’s maintenance schedule in the next 3 years.
Since 2011, navy officials told GAO that they have spent over $100 million on the development, purchase, and upgrade of six HED systems. In October 2018, the navy completed installation of one of the systems on the USS Truxtun (DDG 103). However, the navy has yet to install the remaining five HED systems and now plans to use them to support another research effort.
Navy officials stated that it is expensive to maintain the HED system. However, the commanding officer and crew of the USS Truxtun and senior Navy engineers stated that the system requires little maintenance, according to GAO.
Navy officials also stated that the HED is not used very often in operations. According to the Navy’s January 2020 report, GAO notes, the system was designed for low-speed operations (speed up to 11 knots), which comprise more than one-third of a typical DDGs operating profile.
The five surplus HED systems will now be used to support research into a new electric motor, known as Propulsion Derived Ship Service (PDSS), GAO says.
The full GAO report is available here
