Electric ship drive and power system

Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig announced on Jan. 6 that the Land Attack Destroyer (DD 21) will be the US Navy's first class of ships designed and built with electric drive featuring an integrated power architecture. In addition to supporting the needs of DD 21, this power system architecture was described as a future technology enabler for advanced energy sources and ship capabilities. The warfighting benefit of one such capability, rail guns, was recently evaluated by the CNO's Strategic Studies Group. This paper discusses aspects of the integration of such a capability into a future destroyer with an integrated power system.