Ship Engineering Station News

Using a high-temperature technology developed by the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Navy has successfully launched a new counter-mine tool to protect its fleet at sea. In a time of increasing irregular warfare threats, the Navy has devised and successfully demonstrated a revolutionary technology to help reduce the risk of naval mine strikes to U.S. Navy ships. Installed aboard the USS Higgins (DDG 76) in July 2008, the prototype degaussing coil counters underwater mines utilizing superconducting ceramic materials…

American Superconductor Corporation, announced that it has supplied critical components to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) Ship Engineering Station Philadelphia for a high temperature superconductor (HTS) degaussing coil system that has successfully completed initial electrical testing onboard the USS Higgins (DDG 76), an 8,000-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Powered by AMSC’s HTS wire and magnet cable technology, the coil system will undergo U.S. Navy sea trials over the next two years on the Higgins. Degaussing systems containing multiple tons of copper wire are utilized in most naval ships to cloak their magnetic signature…