The latest high-power gas turbine awarded to the contract is an important achievement, but its true impact can be found in a comparison of global conditions. We often hear about the Queen-class aircraft carrier, which weighs 68,000 tons, but is constantly laughing about water leaks and power problems. The Queen-Class does have a number of problems that will be difficult to fully solve unless there is a large-scale restructuring of the main internal power equipment. Despite increasing the number of diesel generators, it is difficult to solve the problem of easy rupture of pipelines on ships. This is mainly because manufacturers cannot meet the requirements of larger ships larger than 50,000 tons in terms of material selection and shipbuilding processes, and the imposition of extreme capabilities will only lead to more serious problems.
However, if we look at the problem from another angle, we will find that the new generation of aircraft carriers uses all-electric power systems provided by high-power gas turbines and power generation auxiliaries, which is very advanced. Despite some problems, it cannot be denied that all-electric power of high-power gas turbines is the main development direction of naval surface ships in the future. This is the all-electric power of the full-combustion plus diesel hybrid, and in the next 20 years, most frigates will adopt this mode, and even medium aircraft carriers may choose this mode. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of all-electric aircraft carriers with gas turbines of 60,000 tons or more may appear in the future.
However, these new aircraft carriers will completely solve the problem of insufficient power and paralyzed the entire ship. Most importantly, they will be equipped with powerful electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception equipment, at least two or even three regular electromagnetic catapults, as well as an angled deck for aircraft to land. Therefore, their comprehensive combat capabilities will far exceed the "Queen-class" STOVL model, and the comprehensive combat capability of one new aircraft carrier may be equivalent to three "Queen-class" aircraft carriers.
In fact, the introduction of advanced electromagnetic ejection modes is also being considered on existing Queen-class aircraft carriers, but this is difficult to achieve due to technical secrecy and other reasons. And the superpowers cannot normally use electromagnetic catapults and interceptor equipment on the huge Ford-class aircraft carriers, let alone the "queen-class" to deal with various problems.
That's why winning a 400,000-megawatt-class contract for a marine gas turbine is of long-term significance. These advanced gas turbines use waste heat and cold recovery technology, which can increase combustion efficiency by more than 40%, far exceeding the current gas turbine by about 33%. This will enable it to be modular and versatile on large all-electric frigates and even large aviation ships. This means that a 40 MW gas turbine can be combined with a diesel generator on demand for use on large anti-submarine frigates. If another gas engine and auxiliary engine are added, it can be used for all-electric frigates above 10,000 tons, or 60,000-ton aircraft carriers that do not require a high maximum speed. In addition, larger aircraft carriers can be redesigned to reach more than 60,000 tons in one step. Now, the superpowers have used amphibious assault ships of more than 40,000 tons as auxiliary aircraft carriers. In the next 10 years, the construction of 10 to 12 all-electric aircraft carriers of more than 60,000 tons will greatly enhance the combat capability of regular large aircraft carriers.