Early-Stage design methodology for a multirole electric propelled surface combatant ship

Modern Navies are facing a scenario in which the technology is changing at a fast pace, deeply affecting the expected missions their ships have to cope with. Not only new weapon systems and sensors, but also new subsystems and new threats call for the design of new ships. However, integrating these new elements into an existing ship is impossible, being it not designed to support them. Likewise, adapting an existing ship design is difficult as well, being the hull form not suited either for providing the required performance level or for accommodating the increased payload. Therefore, to face the actual evolutionary trend in naval ships, a new design strategy has to be adopted. In this paper, a multi-attribute design making approach to the concept design is depicted, able to exploit the capabilities of modern Information Technology tools. As an application example, a first simplified run of the process is shown, regarding the design of a multirole destroyer.