The US Navy under President Donald Trump is reversing course on Obama-era climate change policies imposed on the nation’s military.
Today’s rollback hits plans to hybridize naval destroyers.
The Navy is canceling a program to install fuel-efficient hybrid electric drives in 34 destroyers, leaving only one destroyer with the technology, the Navy confirmed in a statement.Citing “department priorities,” the service requested $6.3 million for 2018 to finish the installation on the destroyer Truxtun, but has zeroed out funding in 2019 and in the out years. The service has spent about $52 million on the program to date. The whole program was expected to cost $356.25 million, according to the Navy’s FY2017 budget submission.“Based on the Department’s priorities, President’s Budget 2019 removes funding from Hybrid Electric Drive program in FY 2019,” said Lt. Lauren Chatmas in a statement. “There are no further procurements or installations planned beyond DDG-103 in the Future Years Defense Program.”
Part of the reason for the shift in priorities was the numerous problems switching to a hybrid system, which were apparent when the pure electric power source was used to power the ship’s, shaft, radar system, and other essential pieces of equipment used on naval vessels.
The main issue was the intense electrical load that running the drive system on the ship’s two running generators was putting on the ship.’At that point you are a light switch flipping on away from winking out the whole ship,’ the official said.
Here is how the hybrid system was originally promoted:
Unexpectedly, it was determined that the fuel efficiency achieved was not as quite as significant as advertised.
Instead of squandering money on questionably useful projects, the Navy is now looking new weapons options, such as railgun technology. A railgun uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles; the projectile normally does not contain explosives as they use high speed to inflict damage.
Military.com reports that Admiral John Richardson told the House Appropriations subcommittee that the US Navy is fully invested in railgun and is continuing tests.The railgun tests demonstrated it at lower firing rates and … shorter ranges. Now the US Navy is working on the engineering to increase the firing rates and the 80- to 100-mile range.Richardson indicated the weapon had yet to reach that range in spite of predictions.“That involves a number of technologies,” he said. “The barrel itself is probably the limiting case, the engineering on that, the materials required to sustain that power pulse, and the heat and pressure that’s involved in launching those projectiles. And we’re doubling down on that.”…The US Navy brass were “very conscious” of reported Chinese achievements in railgun technology.
Recent developments with North Korea show that the “Peace through Strength” approach seems to be the most effective. Therefore, it is heartening to report that the US military under President Trump refocuses policies on the weapons of war instead of green justice endeavors.
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