ALSTOM will present its latest developments in the field of electric propulsion at this year's Euronaval Naval Defence and Maritime Exhibition and Conference. In particular, its Mermaid™ electric propulsion system to be fitted on the future Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) for the French Navy. Mistral & Tonnerre will be the first military vessels ever to be propelled by this type of propulsion that has already been tried and tested in several merchant vessels. The manoeuvrablity and availability of the LHDs will therefore be improved considerably.
ALSTOM will also present the Advanced Induction Motor (AIM), which was selected by the Royal Navy for its three new T45 destroyers currently under construction. These will be the first
warships fitted with integrated electric propulsion systems supplied by ALSTOM. This propulsion configuration offers a wide range of operation modes, low noise & vibration signature and high shock resistance.
This technology has been developed at ALSTOM's Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator (ESTD) test facility, which is jointly funded by the French and UK Defence Ministries. The aim of the ESTD programme is to demonstrate the operation of an advanced naval electric propulsion system and to reduce the risk to warship prime contractors adopting such technology.
Scale models of both the MermaidTM pod propulsion system and the AIM will be presented on the ALSTOM stand n° A3.
Among high-ranking visitors, Michèle ALLIOT-MARIE, French Minister of Defense, will be visiting the ALSTOM stand on Tuesday morning.