February 5, 2005 -- FREELAND, Wash. - The Office of Naval Research (ONR) today christened its new X-Craft high-speed catamaran at the Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard in Freeland, Wash. The innovative X-Craft, designed by Nigel Gee & Associates, is powered by an integrated propulsion system that includes GE Transportation's LM2500 aeroderivative marine gas turbines and MTU diesel engines.
"We are delighted that our LM2500 gas turbines were selected for this high technology project," said Jeff Martin, director of U.S. government programs for GE Transportation's marine gas turbine business, who was in attendance at the ceremony. "The christening of the X-Craft takes this concept from theory to reality, and sets the stage for future U.S. Navy next-generation projects," he added.
Also in attendance at the christening ceremony were a variety of project participants including Rear Admiral Cohen, chief of Naval Research for ONR; Dr. Gene Ray, Titan Corporation's president, chairman and CEO, the vessel's developer and prime contractor; and Phil Wasinger, MTU's director of North American sales; the propulsion system supplier/integrator.
Two MTU 16V 595 TE90 diesel engines and two GE LM2500 gas turbines supplied by MTU are used in a COmbined Diesel Or Gas turbine (CODOG) configuration with a specially built combining gearbox. The system propels the X-Craft with four waterjets to speeds of more than 50 knots.
The ship's monitoring and control system are MTU's modern MCS5 Type 2 and RCS 5 system. In addition, the ship's electric power supply is generated by four diesel generator-sets with MTU Series 60 diesel engines.
According to MTU's Wasinger, "This project marks the first application of the MTU Series 595 diesel engines in a CODOG configuration for the U.S. Navy."
The high-speed aluminum X-Craft consists of hull geometry and a design displacement of approximately 1,100 long tons. The vessel has two helicopter landing spots capable of handling a variety of aircraft up to the size of the H-60 helicopter, and its mission module bay can fully support multiple mission packages simultaneously.
LM2500: Ever Evolving
The LM2500 continues to be a successful performer for the U.S. Navy. In fact, GE has delivered over 600 (not including spare engines) LM2500 gas turbines to the U.S. Navy for a variety of combatant programs. The LM2500s power all of the US Navy's surface combatant ships plus AOE supply ships and Sealift ships.
Presently there are more than 2,000 LM2500 gas turbines operating worldwide, logging over 50 million hours in service. GE Transportation, at its Evendale, Ohio facility, manufactures the LM2500 gas turbines.
GE continues to invest in the LM2500 and its entire LM family of gas turbines, spending more than $473 million over the past decade on research and development. Improvements include hot section materials upgrade and other component enhancements. These improvements have increased power capability and reliability, and helped keep the LMs on the cutting edge of gas turbine technology.
GE/MTU Relationship
GE and MTU have had a productive and successful working relationship dating back to the 1970s. This partnership has made it possible for GE's LM1600, LM2500 and LM2500+ gas turbines to be used alone or in combination with MTU diesel engines from their full line of diesel engines. These reliable propulsion system configurations are available to commercial and military marine customers worldwide.
The two companies collaborated to provide a COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) arrangement to power four of the South African Navy's next generation MEKO A-200 corvettes. Each corvette uses one GE LM2500 gas turbine and two 5.9-megawatt MTU 16V 1163 TB93 diesel engines to drive two independent controllable pitch propellers through interconnected, three-speed gearboxes. The GE LM2500 is connected via a reduction gearbox with the waterjet. The first corvette was commissioned in mid-2004.
On the commercial marine front, the GE/MTU partnership worked with SNCM in France on the Corsaire 13000 fast ferry. The companies are also worked with the Maritime Company of Lesvos in Greece on the Corsaire 14000-class fast ferry, which uses two LM2500+ gas turbines supplied by MTU in a CODAG configuration with two diesel engines. The 140-meter long Corsaire 14000 cruises at a speed of 42 knots on its route from Piraeus to the Island of Lesvos in Greece. The fast ferry began commercial service in the summer of 2001.
MTU Friedrichshafen, a DaimlerChrysler company, is one of the worldwide leading manufacturers of large diesel engines and complete propulsion systems. The company manufactures diesel and gas engines for propulsion systems in ships, distributed power plants, heavy vehicles and rail in the power range between 20 and 9,000 kilowatts (30 to 12,250 horsepower).
GE Transportation's marine business is one of the world's leading manufacturers of marine products, including gas turbines (6,000 to 57,300 shaft horsepower), medium speed diesels (1,600 to 4,000 horsepower), and main reduction gearing for marine and diesel-electric industrial applications.
Rick Kennedy
GE Aviation
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