GE Power Conversion has been awarded a contract to provide its electrical propulsion drive train technology for the UK Royal Fleets Auxiliary's (RFA's) Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers.
The contract was announced during the Euronaval exhibition in Paris, France on 24 October, and a total of four tankers will deliver fuel and fresh water to Royal Navy vessels internationally. They are expected to enter service in 2016.
'Electrical power is giving us a lot of flexibility,' Mark Dannatt, naval director at the company, told a media briefing. 'The navies are using this technology primarily for fuel economy reasons.