Inactive

The Navy is issuing this RFI as a means of conducting market research to characterize reliable power and propulsion architectures and the associated component technologies. Primarily the Navy is inter... The Navy is issuing this RFI as a means of conducting market research to characterize reliable power and propulsion architectures and the associated component technologies. Primarily the Navy is interested in mature systems that provide notable and quantifiable reliability improvements compared to traditional mechanical maritime configurations and architectures, which to consider in future Unmanned Surface Vehicle/Vessel (USV) procurement opportunities. USVs must have reliable power and propulsion systems to accomplish 30 to 90 day missions. Initial studies indicate that alternative power and propulsion architectures could improve the reliability of USV missions. Hybrid Electric Drive (HED), Integrated Power Systems (IPS), and integrated electrical energy storage architectures appear to utilize prime movers in a more effective and reliable manner; therefore, the Navy is interested in exploring these specific architectures in further detail, requiring additional information. Additionally, the Navy is interested in addressing the system’s tolerance for failures and the ability to recover from failures. Ship designs often rely on emergency generators, emergency transitional sources, and emergency distribution systems to provide electrical systems with the highest reliability of recovery from failures. The Navy is interested in exploring the trade-offs in emergency power system options, such as dedicated emergency generators, dual use (emergency/ship-service) generators, energy storage for transitional power, and energy storage or other system attributes that minimize the potential for dark ship conditions or ensure unmanned recovery. Keywords: Unmanned Power Propulsion Reliability Unmanned Surface Vehicle/Vessel (USV) Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) Integrated Power System (IPS) Integrated Power and Energy System (IPES) Energy Storage Please refer to the attachments for the entire USV Architecture Study RFI.