WASHINGTON — Fairbanks Morse, an EnPro Industries company, has been awarded a contract to build and deliver the four main propulsion diesel engines (MPDE) that will power LPD 30, which will be the U.S. Navy’s first LPD Flight II class ship, the company announced Oct. 30.
The newly designed ship will be based on the San Antonio-class hull, but the LPD Flight II is fitted with a fully capable flight deck and hangar, a well deck, and the vehicle and cargo capacities to support and sustain more than 500 combat-equipped Marines for up to 30 days. Each engine will feature common rail (CR) fuel injection technology.
The engines are scheduled to be delivered in the second and third quarters of 2020 to Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Fairbanks Morse will then support installation, testing and sea trials for the vessel. The four sequentially turbocharged 16-cylinder FM Colt-Pielstick PC 2.5 diesel engines with CR fuel injection will deliver over 31 megawatts of propulsion power and are among the largest medium-speed diesel engines manufactured in the United States.
“As an American manufacturer of medium speed engines, we take great pride in delivering engines and systems for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. This contract is particularly special as it is for the first LPD Flight II class ship,” said Deepak Navnith, Fairbanks Morse president. “As a company, we place significant value on innovation and it was at the heart of this win. The common rail fuel injection technology on the LPD PC 2.5 engines will lower total lifecycle costs for the Navy by reducing fuel consumption, lowering emissions, and reducing engine maintenance, enabling the Navy to spend more time at sea at a lower cost.”
The common rail system technology uses a common high-pressure fuel header, high-pressure pumps, electronically controlled fuel delivery, electronic governing system and a new control system to deliver a precise amount of fuel throughout all engine operations. The common rail technology will deliver improved specific fuel consumption at all operating points, resulting in millions of dollars saved by the Navy over the operational lifetime of the power systems.
Fairbanks Morse engineers in Beloit, Wisconsin, worked with the MAN Energy Solutions teams in Augsburg, Germany, and St. Nazaire, France, along with the U.S. Navy to apply MAN’s proven commercial technology from the 32/44CR engine onto the FM Colt-Pielstick PC 2.5V STC engine.
Each engine will be built at the Fairbanks Morse manufacturing facility in Beloit, creating numerous jobs for American workers. Fairbanks Morse engines are installed on approximately 80 percent of U.S. Navy ships that have a medium-speed power application.
