Experimental Magnetic Propulsion System

Chinese Navy Tests Experimental Magnetic Propulsion System

You know, like in The Hunt for Red October. Kinda.

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By Kyle Mizokami

Engineers and scientists in China have started up the first Chinese ship with a magnetohydrodynamic propulsion system. The system, which uses magnetic fields propel a ship through the water, promises to make quieter military submarines that are harder to detect. However, the technology is not new and has failed to catch on in the mainstream.

The report in China's official military news site and mentioned by China Defense Blog, says that a ship with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) propulsion system or "rim-driven pumpjet" drive was tested in southern China, on Hainan island. The ship, docked at the Chinese naval base at Sanya, was tested on October 18th and "then reached the designated speed."


The Hunt for Red October.
Getty Images.

MHD propulsion systems work by using superconducting magnets to create strong magnetic fields. Generated by electric motors, these fields move seawater through an underwater shaft and past a metal rim, propelling the ship forward. MHD propulsion uses no moving parts, making it ultra-quiet. The fictional Soviet Navy submarine Red October in the film The Hunt for Red October used a MHD drive. In the movie, the Red October was described as particularly dangerous because its quietness made it easier to sneak up on the East Coast and launch a so-called nuclear "decapitation strike" against the United States.

MHD propulsion research was popular in the West and Japan in the late 1980s. The most famous MHD-driven ship, the Japanese Yamato-1, was tested briefly in 1992 and achieved a top speed of eight knots. Despite early signs of promise MHD propulsion research never led to the technology becoming operational on submarines. It's unclear why that's the case, but one reason might be the difficulty in generating sufficiently powerful electromagnetic fields to propel ships and submarines at useful speeds. Here's a classroom example of a MHD drive:

The Chinese test leaves several unanswered questions. The article specifically mentions using the technology on submarines, but it's not clear if the test ship was a submarine or surface vessel. The ship speed is not mentioned, only that it reached a "designated speed", which implies that it was actually pretty slow. If the ship was fast, the Chinese government would have been the first to say so.

If China can get MHD propulsion to work it will prove a valuable workaround to one of China's most difficult submarine technology hurdles: the inability to make very quiet propellers. MHD propulsion has no propellers at all. While there are other hurdles, including reducing machinery and reactor noise, China is clearly on a full court press to catch up to—and perhaps even exceed—U.S. and Western submarine technology.