COGAG wins

Pratt & Whitney won a $40milliom contract with Norwegian shipyard Umoe Mandal to supply gas turbine propulsion systems for the Royal Norwegian Navy?s six “Skjold” Class Fast Patrol Boats over the next four years.

Each system features two ST18M marine gas turbines and two ST40M marine gas turbines. The ST18M and ST40M are free turbine turboshaft engines derived from the Pratt & Whitney aero engines, PW100 and PW150A. More than 5000 aero engines of this type have been delivered to date. Pratt & Whitney’s COGAG configuration (combined gas turbine and gas turbine) was considered better suited for the Skjold applications than the CODOG configurations (combined diesel or gas turbine) offered by other system designers.

The “Skjold” SES (Surface Effect Ship) vessels will be built between 2004 and 2007 by Umoe Mandal. The SES system is also a leading candidate for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship program. Other suppliers for the “Skjold” program include the Control Corporation of America and Renk AG, a subsidiary of MAN Aktiengesellschaft.