China Develops Low Noise Motor for Use in Nuclear Submarine Propulsion

The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) has conducted a trial run of the country's first permanent magnet propulsion motor which is characterized by very low noise, for potential use in nuclear submarines.

The State-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), made a statement on its official WeChat account on Monday that the permanent magnet motor with a Chinese patent has been used on naval vessels docked at Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, the base of China's conventional and nuclear submarine fleet, an opinion piece in Chinese state-owned media outlet, Chinamil said.

The permanent magnet propulsion motor running the vessel's propeller began to turn at 11 am on October 18 and reached the designated speed, which signified the success of the test run, the report said.

The motor is specially suited for China's submarines and can substantially improve their performance in many aspects, especially by significantly reducing their running sound to the lowest possible level, a characteristic of stealth submarines.

“The new high-performance permanent magnet motors made from rare-earth materials avoid the flaws of traditional motors that work under the excitation principle, and can provide much greater power density, and can significantly reduce its working noise," Song Zhongping, a military analyst who previously served with the PLA Rocket Force, told another state-owned media outlet, Global Times on Tuesday.

In May this year, one of China's top naval engineers had been quoted in a TV interview as saying that the navy was supplying its newest nuclear attack submarines with a "shaftless," rim-driven pump-jet, which was considered a revolutionary, low-noise propulsion system.

Ma said that the technology was ahead of the US and more efficient and suitable for high-speed nuclear submarines.