Advanced Marine Engine for Combatant Craft Increased Payload

Today's riverine forces employ combatant patrol/assault craft that relies on speed, acceleration, and maneuverability for survivability and multi-mission success. These capabilities are at risk because of the increasing demand to carry more extensive payloads. Current diesel propulsion systems are typicallymodifications of truck or industrial engines with a weight to power ratio of 3-5 (lb/hp). By reducing the propulsion weight, the craft will be able carry more extensive payloads. The three engine choices are diesel, gasoline, and turbine. Current diesel engines don't meet the weight goal, gasoline engines are not an option due to fleet requirements and turbine engines have unacceptable thermal issues. However, a novel engine, the Linear Power Transmission (LPT) engine has the greatest potential to meet the 1lb/hp goal. The original engine design received FAA certification in the 1950's, weighed 237 lbs and produced 200 hp. In this effort, we propose to build and test an innovative multi-fuel marine engine, based on the LPT (currently in production for gensets). Project goals include an engine design that exceeds 500 HP with a weight of 480lbs with low fuel consumption.