Devens-based American Superconductor Corp. said it and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. successfully tested a 49,000-horsepower superconductor ship propulsion motor for the U.S. Navy.
The electric motor produces 36.5 megawatts of power, twice as powerful as any motor the Navy has ever tested, and is intended for use in large Navy combat ships. The motor was built under contract with the Office of Naval Research to demonstrate how electric motors can be used as the primary propulsion technology for future Navy ships.
So far, the Navy has spent $100 million on the development of high temperature superconductor technology.
High temperature superconductor wire is able to carry 150 times the power of similar-sized copper wire, but the motor AMSC developed is less than half the size of conventional Navy ship motors and will reduce ship weight by nearly 200 metric tons, making the ship more efficient and able to carry more weapons.
