AMSC (American Superconductor Corporation) has entered into a delivery contract for approximately $8 million with Textron Systems for a pre-production High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) Magnetic Influence Mine Countermeasure Payload System.
Textron Systems is acting as prime contractor for an initial award of over $20 million, inclusive of the $8 million award to AMSC, from the U.S. Navy for the design, development, and integration of the next generation mine sweep system for use on board the Common Unmanned Surface Vessel platform. Designated as the Magnetic and Acoustic Generation Next Unmanned Superconducting Sweep, the program is supported by the Office of Naval Research as part of its Future Naval Capabilities portfolio to transition the Navy from traditional legacy towed mine-sweep systems.
“This nearly $8 million multi-year contract builds on AMSC’s prior work on the deployable MCM solution, allowing us to leverage our proprietary technology to develop the capabilities needed for possible future ship production systems,” said Daniel McGahn, CEO of AMSC. “AMSC has been contracted to design, develop, and deliver a pre-production system for the U.S. Navy to deploy and test as part of its MCM USV program. Deployment into the fleet would potentially expand our Ship Protection System content per ship. We look forward to working with Textron and remain focused on our work to expand HTS technology into the fleet through a variety of applications for power and protection equipment.”
The system is expected to provide the U.S. Navy with a robust and efficient mine countermeasure capability that is designed to minimize the risk to fleet assets and personnel during mine countermeasure operations such as mine hunting and mine neutralization. AMSC, the U.S. Navy and ONR have collaborated on AMSC’s HTS-based Ship Protection Systems including HTS Advanced Degaussing Systems, as well as the deployable HTS Magnetic Influence Mine Countermeasure Payload System. The core components of the HTS-based SPS are common and transferable to other applications being targeted for ship implementation.
Headquartered in Ayer, Massachusetts near Boston, AMSC has also been racking up contracts recently for its portfolio of windpower solutions which include generators and control systems for wind turbines. For more info, see www.amsc.com.
